Interlock Unlimited

Presents:

INTERLOCK REVISED, REPAIRED, AND RE-EXAMINED

A FAN PROJECT FOR FANS - THIS VERSION UPDATED 2-13-12

Written by Deric Bernier ([email protected]) and R.Talsorian Games (with permission) Art by Deric Bernier ([email protected]) and R.Talsorian Games (with permission) Contributions by: Joe Klemann, Ross Wynn, Cameron Jacobs, James Bernier, Brandon Fleming, Jesse Miller, Richard Balmer, Jason Parent, Ted Salonich, Paul Romine, Richard Harris, Gary Astleford, Tom Mosely, Trentin C Bergeron, Jim Lawrie, Mike Van Atta, David Pietz, Steven Rennie, Dan Winemiller, David Simpson, James Durand, Richard Glendinning, Mark Cook, Karsten Voigt, Seth Skorkowsky, C. Jacob Maddox Playtesters: Jeff Gray Matt Baldwin Andrew Steel Al Bob Christian Conkle Gary Washington James Carpio Jose LacCario Kelvin Hall Peter Boddy Michael Fry Ron Beck Markus Muehlbauer William Barg Mike Fulghum Dennis Kadera Tony Love Mat Wisniewski Abe Spalding Daniel Muresan You can find other Interlock Unlimited resources as well as a host of supplements for the Cyberpunk 2020 Role-playing Game on Datafortress 2020, the largest, most Comprehensive Cyberpunk 2020 site in the world. Visit it at: http://datafortress2020.oliwy.net/ Or you can discuss and even get involved with Interlock Unlimited directly by joining the Datafortress 2020/Interlock Unlimited Forums where the latest projects and ideas for the Interlock Unlimited System are developed. Interlock, Mekton, Teenagers From Outer Space, Cyberpunk, and Cyberpunk:2020 are a Registered Trademark of R.Talsorian Corporation. Original Cyberpunk:2020 material Copyright 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994,1995,1996,1997, 1998, 1999, 2000,2001,2002,2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, by R.Talsorian Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Used with permission. Any use of R.Talsorian Corporation's copyrighted material or trademarks in this archive should not be viewed as a challenge to those copyrights or trademarks.

Table of Contents: Introduction 1. Part 1: The Basics Statistics 2. Character Identity and Roles Standard Roles Multiple Roles Role Descriptions 3. Skills Learning New Skills IP Distribution Skill list by era/setting Skill Descriptions Languages Martial Arts Skills And Task Resolution 4. Breathing Life Into Your Character Origins And Personal Style Motivations Life Events Friends & Enemies Romantic Life Misc. Character Generation Rules 5. Getting Started Starting Funds 6. Weapons & Armor Melee Weapon Options & Types Firearms Armor 7. Combat Basics Actions & Combat Actions Ambushes & Backstabs Line Of Sight/Facing Damage Hit Locations Critical Wounds Bludgeon Damage Armor Hard And Soft Armor Armor & Bludgeoning Damage Layering Armor Maximum Armor Proportional Armor Armor Piercing Rounds Staged Penetration Cover Making Attacks Ranged Weapon Combat Ranged Definitions Aiming Modifiers Critical Success Fumbles Automatic Weapons Full Auto/multiple Targets Fire Corridors & Grazing Fire Grace Under Fire Complex Actions Morale Seeking Cover Facing Vehicles Recoil Unusual Ranged Weapons Beam Weapons Bows And Crossbows Area Effect Weapons Explosives

Indirect Fire Pg 1 Pg 40 Reloads Carried Pg 2 Pg 40 Melee Combat Pg 2 Pg 41 Key Attacks Pg 3 Pg 41 Moving Attack Maneuvers Pg 44 Pg 3 Counter Attack Pg 3 Pg 44 Melee Damage Pg 3 Pg 44 Improvised Weapons Pg 5 Pg 44 Hand To Hand Penalties Pg 5 Pg 45 Friendly Fighting Pg 5 Pg 45 Incapacitation/Nerve Clusters Pg 45 Pg 7 Pg 8 Death & Maiming Pg 45 Pg 14 Called Shots Pg 46 Pg 15 Surprise Melee Attacks Pg 46 Pg 16 Other Combat Rules Pg 47 Pg 17 Chink In The Armor Pg 47 Pg 18 SP and Its Relation To SDP Pg 47 Pg 19 Taking It Like A Man Pg 47 Pg 20 Falling Damage Pg 47 Pg 21 Impact Damage Pg 47 Pg 21 Hard Road (vehicle rules) Pg 48 Pg 22 Vehicle Damage Locations Pg 51 Pg 23 Vehicle Damage & Effects Pg 51 Pg 23 Vehicular Combat Pg 52 Pg 24 Aircraft Rules Pg 54 Pg 25 Other Transportation Pg 55 Pg 27 8. The Med Side Pg 56 Pg 28 Body Type Modifier Pg 56 Pg 30 Taking Wounds Pg 56 Pg 30 Wound Effect Pg 56 Pg 30 Stun/Shock Saves Pg 56 Pg 31 Death Saves Pg 57 Pg 31 Stabilization Pg 57 Pg 31 First Aid Pg 57 Pg 31 Medical Tech Pg 57 Pg 32 Surgery Codes Pg 58 Pg 32 Healing Pg 58 Pg 32 Recovery Pg 58 Pg 32 Death State Pg 58 Pg 32 Infection Pg 59 Pg 33 Burn Damage Pg 60 Pg 33 Electrical Damage Pg 60 Pg 33 Poison & Drugs Pg 60 Pg 33 Starvation/Dehydration Pg 60 Pg 33 10. Other Rules Pg 61 Pg 33 Different Races/Animals Pg 61 Pg 34 Environmental Rules Pg 62 Pg 34 Extreme Cold Pg 62 Pg 34 Extreme Heat Pg 62 Pg 34 Underwater Rules Pg 62 Pg 34 Space/Vacuum Rules Pg 64 Pg 34 Humanity Loss Pg 65 Pg 35 Social Rules Pg 66 Pg 35 Interpersonal Skill Modifiers Pg 66 Pg 35 Conducting Interviews Pg 66 Pg 36 Pg 67 Seduction Pg 36 Streetwise & Networking Pg 68 Pg 36 Resource Requisition Pg 68 Pg 36 Pg 68 Generating Contacts Pg 36 Technology Rules Pg 70 Pg 36 Pg 70 New Technology Pg 36 Computers Pg 71 Pg 36 Pg 71 Computer Programs Pg 37 Pg 72 Computer Virus Pg 37 Hacking & Net Combat Pg 72 Pg 37 Pg 73 Computer Combat Pg 39 Virtual Reality Pg 73

INTRODUCTION: I was first introduced to gaming in 1983, at the tender age of 11, when my grandmother, knowing my love for Conan, the Dungeons and Dragons cartoon, and all things fantasy, gave me the Basic Dungeons and Dragons box set for Christmas. The rules were completely over my head, and I didn’t know anyone who played, still the books themselves were treated like treasures. Particularly, the equipment sections and the small blurbs of examples of play enthralled me. It would be another 3 years before I got to play, and that experience was so disappointing that I lost interest completely. Then in late 1989, early 1990, a friend of mine attending the Kansas City Art Institute invited me to come play Dungeons and Dragons with him. I conceded, though honestly it was more just to hang out with him, than over any excitement for the game. Things didn’t work out as planned though; instead what happened would change the course of my life and interests from then on. We didn’t play Dungeons and Dragons, instead we played this new game I had never heard of called Cyberpunk by R. Talsorian Games. It was like a light went on, an incredible neon green light that would outshine every other interest /(except girls and sex) I had ever had up until that point. I had already been a fan of the genre, without knowing what it actually was. The very first VHS tape I purchased with my own money was Bladerunner, and I had discovered manga and anime very early on in 1986, when you could only get 18th generation straight Japanese pirate videos at comic conventions. Shows like Bubblegum Crisis, Cyber City, Grey: The Digital Target, and books like Xenon: Heavy Metal Warrior, Cyber 7, Akira, and most importantly Appleseed were already often viewed favorites in my personal library. Cyberpunk struck that still forming nerve with a dose of chrome infused steroids. I immediately bought all the books I could, and finally with a name for the genre, I poured myself into any and all inspiration I could find. Then Cyberpunk 2020 was released, and everything became… Perfect. While I eventually started playing other games, for years Cyberpunk 2020 was the only game I would even consider running, and have done so steadily for almost 20 years now. Around 1996, I finally got my hands on the internet. The first thing I looked up? You guessed it, Cyberpunk 2020. There wasn’t much back then, but most of what was available was pure gold, Particularly Imagines Cyberpunk 2020 Site, Christian Conkle’s Seattle 2020, Kingfishers UK 2020, and of course, the first mega-site, Mockery’s Cyberpunk 2020 Page. Very shortly I discovered other sites, and more and more kept popping up. Most of them were little more than reprinted

or mirrored articles from books or other sites, or just one little yahoo page promising future updates, but one site stuck out. Paul Minor’s Datafortress 2020. We became friends, and I began submitting articles to him, the very first one was the Appleseed Sourcebook (still one of the most popular articles on the site). Shortly thereafter Paul asked me to take over the site, real life was getting in the way of his fun. I have run Datafortress 2020 ever since, updating steadily and as frequently as I can, building it bigger and bigger and hopefully better. While I still hold that Cyberpunk 2020, and its Rules system is the most perfect “out of the box” system I have ever seen, after 20 years of playing and 12 years of writing for Datafortress 2020, it was hard to miss that Interlock did have some flaws, or at least ideas that could have been better executed. That’s where this book comes in. Interlock Unlimited is the culmination of all those years, as well as the collective experience of the online community. In addition to my own house rules and replacements, I scoured the net for the best ideas and house rules available. Compiling them into one place it soon became apparent that what had always been missing was a basic set of rules, one usable for any genre, any setting. Many systems used Interlock, or a slightly modified version of it. Cyberpunk, Cyberpunk 2020, Dream Park, Mekton, and Teenagers From Outer Space. R. Talsorian eventually noticed the flaws themselves and worked with Hero Games to create Fuzion, which they use as standard now, to power Cyberpunk V3, Bubblegum Crisis, Dragonball Z, and their other newer releases. But Fuzion didn’t really address the issues I had problems with, and instead created new problems. But it was their attempt to make Interlock the truly Universal system it should have been presented as from the start. And some of the ideas were pure gold, and have been incorporated here. While I would like to claim that this, Interlock Unlimited, is perfect, and you will never have a problem using it, it would be ludicrous of me to do so. Just as with the original Interlock, no system, no matter how thought out, no matter how well conceived and orchestrated, is perfect. Inevitably, you will find that something doesn’t work for you. My advice, is, change it to something that does work. If it works really well, send it to us, and maybe it will get incorporated in a future Revision. And while this system may in fact not be perfect, I do believe, and for myself and my group at least, that this is about as close as it is possible to get in a medium that interprets every human action into something that can be measured by a few numbers and resolves outcomes with a die roll. In the end, rules are just tools, to be used or not, and should not inhibit reasonable fairness, realism, or fun.

INTERLOCK UNLIMITED is a re-imagining of R.Talsorians Interlock Rules System and as such was designed not only to cover any genre, setting, or situation, but remain fully compatible with all games built on the Interlock System. R. Talsorians newest system, Fuzion, is based heavily on Interlock, and as such should be easily compatible with Interlock Unlimited, requiring minimal conversion. GAMES WHICH USE INTERLOCK INCLUDE: Cyberpunk Cybergeneration Gundam Senki Cyberpunk 2020 Mekton II and Mekton Zeta And loosely Teenagers From Outer Space These games should be fully compatible with Interlock Unlimited

Cyberpunk V3 Bubblegum Crisis Champions: The New Millenium Artesia

GAMES WHICH USE FUZION INCLUDE: Guardians Of The Universe Lightspeed Sengoku

Usagi Yojimbo Teenagers From Outer Space V2 Dragonball Z Victoriana

These games should be compatible with Interlock Unlimited with minimal conversion

Due to space limitations, and avoidance of redundancy, the Interlock Unlimited Rules don’t quite cover everything. Luckily most of what it doesn’t cover is already available and fully compatible. Martial Arts Unlimited is available as a free Rules Expansion download at the Datafortress 2020 Interlock Unlimited File Project. Interlock Unlimited Rules for Magic, Psionics, and Superpowers are available as Expansion Rules. Space Travel and Starship Construction rules, as well as rules for Mecha, Mecha Combat, and Mecha Construction are available in the Mekton rulebooks Mekton Zeta and Roadstriker 2 from R. Talsorian Games.

Rules for Civilian Vehicle Construction are available as an IU Rules Expansion, which also include advanced rules for vehicular combat. Military Vehicle Construction and combat can be found in The Cyberpunk 2020 Sourcebook Maximum Metal from R. Talsorian games. Feel free to use the prices and availability of gear and equipment from lists provided in other game systems, since all you need is to know what you can get your hands on and how much it costs, you should have several resource s to choose from for any setting imaginable.

NOTE: As much as I hate to mix the two, this book uses U.S. Standard for distance, and Metric for everything else. However, for the purposes of this game, meters and yards are identical (for my European friends).

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PART 1: THE BASICS STATISTICS Each character has 9 Statistics - values representing the level of native ability of the character in specific areas of activity. These Stats are rated from 1 to 10, with 1 worst possible, 10 being the best possible, and the average falling at about 5 or 6. Divide the characters total number of Stat Points between each of the 9 Stats, adjusting the amounts in each one as you think best describes the character's natural abilities. No beginning character’s Statistic may be 3 or less or greater than 10. 3 or less is generally considered handicapped, while 10 or more is generally considered superhuman. Intelligence (INT): This is a measure of the characters problem solving ability, general awareness, and to remember information. Almost every character type can benefit from a high INT. Reflexes (REF): This is a combined index, covering not only the characters physical dexterity, but also how their level of physical coordination will affect skills and abilities. Characters who intend to engage in great deal of combat should invest in a high REF. Cool (CL): This index measures how well the character stands up to stress, pressure, physical pain and/or torture. It determines their willingness to fight on despite wounds, also called “coolness”, Cool is essential. It is the measure of how "together" a character is or how formidable they appear to others. Stun Save Number: Your character's Stun Save Number is a value equal to your CL Type. To make saves, you must roll a value on 1D10 equal or lower than this number. Stun Saves: When they character takes damage, or has been exposed to knockout drugs, they are required to make a Stun Save. If the character fails a Stun Save, they will automatically be knocked out of combat and be unable to recover until a successful Stun Save is made in a following combat turn. A character may make one Save roll every turn until they succeed. Technical Ability (TECH): This is an index of a characters manual dexterity and how he can relate to hardware and other technically oriented things. TECH will be the Stat used when manipulating or repairing technology. Luck (LK): This is the intangible "something" that throws the balance of events into your favor. Luck represents how many points the player may use each game to influence the outcome of any event. To use Luck, a player may add any or all the points of luck a character has to any die roll. Use of Luck must be declared before the roll is made. Luck is expended when all of the player’s points have been used for that session. Luck is always restored at the end of each game session. Expending all a characters Luck at once (meaning no luck has been used prior in a session) automatically equates to a success. Luck may also be used to negate a Fumble, though using it in such a way only spends one point of Luck, and no more may be added to that roll. Anytime the use of luck is declared, the character must spend at least one point. Attractiveness (ATTR): This is how physically attractive a character is. While Seduction and Intimidation are EMP based skills, every point over 6 ATTR gives a +2 modifier to seduction, and every point below 5 gives a +2 to Intimidation. Movement Allowance (MA): This is the index of how fast a character can run. The higher a characters MA, the more distance

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they can cover in a Round or Turn. Every point of Athletics will modify: Run, Leap, and Lift distances per round by 5%. Run: To determine how far a character can run in a single combat round (3.3 seconds) in yards, multiply the characters MA by 3. The character can then run x3 this distance in a full 10-second turn. Write this in the RUN section on your Character Sheet. (For example: MA of 7 would write 21/63 TERRAIN MODIFIERS Easy (sidewalk, plains) ........ No reduction Rough (wooded, sand) .................. 1/2 MA Very Rough (marsh, snow) ............. 1/4 MA WEATHER MODIFIERS Light rain, flurries .................. No reduction Steady rain, heavy snow ................. 1/2 MA Blizzard ........................................... 1/4 MA Leap: To determine the distance of a characters standing jump, divide the characters RUN by 4, this is how many feet the character can jump. For a running jump, divide the characters full 10-second Turn Run by 4, this is how far the character can jump in feet. Vertical Distance is ½ standing jump. OPTIONAL RULE: For characters with full cybernetic conversion, or for Wuxia type effects, leaps are measure in yards, not feet. Climbing: Characters can climb a number of yards equal to their MA in one round. An Average Athletics check should be made every Turn spent climbing. If failed. an Average Strength Feat check should be made for the character to hang on, climbing can resume next round. The movement rate when climbing without aid of a rope is MA/2 yards. The GM should assign a difficulty number for Athletics or Strength Feat checks according to the sheerness and angle of the surface being climbed. Empathy (EMP): This Stat represents how well a character relates to society, affecting both charisma and sympathetic emotions. EMP is critical when leading, persuading, seducing, or perceiving emotional undercurrents. Cybernetic Implantation, Drug Use, some types of Mental Illness, Magic, Psionics, and Superpowers, may degrade a characters EMP. RULE FOR GAMES WHERE CYBERNETICS, MAGIC, PSIONICS, OR SUPER POWERS, ARE ALLOWED: Humanity: This is a measure of the toll that being more (or less) than human takes on a characters ability to relate to society. The characters EMP x10 determines how many Humanity points they have. Write the result in a box on the Character Sheet. For every 10 points of Humanity Loss (HL), the character will automatically lose 1 point of EMP. This can have serious effect on any EMP related Skills, as well as forcing you towards Disassociative Psychosis (also called Cyber-psychosis, Mage Madness, or simply the Rage).

Body Type (BOD): Strength, Endurance and Constitution are all based on the character's BOD. BOD determines how much damage the character can take in wounds, how much they can lift or carry, how far they can throw, and how much additional damage they cause with physical attacks. For every point of the Strength Feat skill, a character may modify his carry weight, dead lift weight, and his Throw distance by 5%. Difficulty modifier for doing this successfully is 15, +3 for every 10% in kg over what is normally allowed. Body Type 1-2 3-4 5-6 7-8 9-10 11-12+

Strength

BTM

STR RAM Bonus Very Weak -0 -1 1D6-2 Weak -1 0 1D6 Average -2 +1 2D6 Strong -3 +2 2D6+1 Very Strong -4 +3 2D6+2 Superhuman -5 +4 3D6+4 Carry = 10x BT in kg. Dead lift = 40x BT in kg.

Throw Distance 10 yards 20 yards 40 yards 60 yards 80 yards 100 yards

Death Save Number: Your character's Save Number is a value equal to your BOD. To make saves, you must roll a value on 1D10 equal or lower than this number. Death Saves: When a character has been Mortally Wounded, or when they have encountered certain types of poisons, they will need to make a Save against Death. On a failed roll, the character dies. Take a moment to find the Death Save box on your Character Sheet and fill it in.

Activity Level

Requires Check at each Increment:

Examples:

Light

BOD + Endurance = x2 Hours

Medium

BOD + Endurance = x10 Minutes

Heavy

BOD + Endurance = x2 Rounds

Driving, Working on Computer, Walking, Guard Duty, Paperwork, Manual Labor, Jogging, Climbing, Heavy Lifting (Carry Max), Fighting, Running, Extreme Lifting (Dead Lift Max)

Any time a character exceeds the amount of time allowed for an activity, he must make an Endurance Check at a difficulty of 10. For every Increment after, (Light = Hours, Medium = Minutes, Heavy = Rounds) the difficulty of the check raises by +1 modified by the following conditions: Sample Conditions Modifiers Under Pressure -3 Unskilled at Activity (0 skill level) -3 Lightly Skilled (1-3 Skill Level) 0 Moderately Skilled (3-5 Skill Level) +1 Highly Skilled at activity (6-8) skill level) +2 Expertly Skilled at activity (9-10 Skill Level) +3 Combat Situation -1 Adverse Conditions (mild rain, slightly hot or -2 cold, sand, snow, etc…) Severe Conditions (Heavy Rain, Extreme Heat -4 or Cold, mud, ice, etc…) Exceeding Weight allowance -4 In some instances, Cool may replace BOD for purposes of Endurance Checks, at GM’s Discretion

Body Type Modifier (BTM): Not all people take damage the same way. For example, it takes a lot more damage to stop Arnold The Terminator than it does Arnold The Nerd. The Body Type Modifier reflects this. BTM is a special bonus used by your character to reduce the effects of damage. The BTM is subtracted from any damage your character takes in combat.

DETERMINING STATISTICS

For example, say the character took ten points of damage. If they were a Very Weak Body Type, you would take the full ten. But with a Very Strong Body Type, you'd only take (10-4=6) six points of damage.

1) Random: Roll 9D10 and total. The character has this many Stat Points to distribute as they see fit amongst the 9 stats.

Find the Body Type Modifier (BTM) box on the Character Sheet and fill it in. The BOD Stat does not represent how big a characters is, merely how well developed their muscles are. I think we can all agree that Arnold Schwarzenegger represents a 10. And when we think of a 10 BOD, it is usually that build we associate with it. However, Sumo wrestlers are often just as strong, but they are built drastically different. Bruce Lee could lift as much as Arnie, but he was a little bitty skinny guy. So how do you resolve this? Its simple, just allow your players to decide the body style of their characters for themselves. Endurance: Endurance Checks must be made on 3 different levels of activity. Light Activity, Medium Activity, and Heavy Activity. Each requires Endurance Checks based off differing levels of time spent on the activity. The amount of time one can go without making an endurance check is based off the characters BOD + Endurance Skill.

Stat points are the cash of character creation – they are used to purchase the various mechanical aspects of the character, like good looks, a strong, hard body, unshakable cool and street smarts (but not Skills). We've given you three ways to generate Stat Points:

2) Fast: Roll 1D10 for each Stat (9 in all), re-rolling scores of 3 (As stated prior, 3 or less in any Stat is considered handicapped, and while a player may choose this for role playing purposes, it is not recommended) or less. Place rolls in each Stat as desired. 3) Cinematic: This option is for Referees only. As the designer of the adventure, the GM has the option of choosing the number of points for character based scale of campaign being run. Epic Level Mighty Level Heroic Level Street Level Gutter Level

75 pts 70 pts 65 pts 60 pts 55 pts

OPTIONAL RULE: In realistic campaigns, 10 is generally the absolute maximum Stat a human can achieve. However, in certain cases a human may push the boundaries of human limit, and in cases of Fantasy, Superhero, or Supernatural campaigns the characters may or may not be strictly human. At the GM’s discretion, some characters may increase their Stat past ten, but every point past ten costs double.

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PART 2: CHARACTER IDENTITY AND ROLES STANDARD ROLES Roles represent your characters chosen career(s), they are a simple way for a character to identify himself from the herd and represent a dedication to the characters chosen profession mirrored in the Special Ability (SA) that the Role provides him. Roles are available to anyone, and someone can have as many roles as they wish, and the special abilities that go with them.

Rules for Multiple Roles A. Characters may have only one primary Role (Solo, Cop, etc...). B. No special ability can rise higher or equal to that of the characters primary Role/Special Ability. (A Solo can’t have a Streetdeal higher than his Combat Sense.) C. Characters can only start out with one single special ability (their Primary) no higher than 5. Or they may choose multiple Roles, with a limit of 5 points to be spent on Special Abilities, and their Primary must be 1 point higher than any others chosen. (GM’s who wish to run higher or lower level campaigns may alter this SA cap to fit the needs of their game.) They can gain more Special Abilities down the road, but none must ever advance higher than their primary. D. If a character takes multiple roles that grant level bonuses to the same Skill, the bonuses do NOT stack, the character must use the most appropriate bonus as determined by the GM, in any case where the most appropriate Role is not easily determined, the role with the higher bonus is used.

E. A character may choose to switch Primary roles if the secondary role is within one point of his Primary, but doing so incurs a penalty of -1 to that characters SA associated with his former Primary Role (so a Solo with a Combat Sense of 6 with a Fixer secondary role and a Streetdeal of 5 could switch Primaries to Fixer when he has enough Points of IP towards his Streetdeal to raise him to a 6, but doing so drops his Combat Sense down to 5). F. To gain a new Role during play, the character must have current InGame experience, which would directly and realistically correlate to that role, as determined by the GM. It involves more than simply using the related skills or a brief foray into the career… it requires total immersion. For example, going to see the Grateful Dead won’t make you a Nomad, spending a year following them on tour might. In game terms, a character must have at least a 4 in any and all Skills the Special Ability provided by the Role would infer a bonus to. G. Only the GM can raise Special Abilities, and experience earned or given towards them is at his discretion (based on character usage and implementation). General IP may NOT be used to raise Special Abilities.

STANDARD ROLES (These roles are appropriate for nearly any setting, genre, or era of game, though the limits of the special ability will be determined by the setting. The name is followed by alternative names or concepts which fit under the role, a brief description, and the special ability it provides) ANIMAL EMPATH (Trainer, Shepherd, Breeder, Rancher, Wrangler, Game Preserver) You connect with animals, you understand them and can train them to obey. SA - Animal Bond: Adds to Animal Handling and Teaching when dealing with animals. ARTISTE (Painter, Novelist, Musician, Sculptor, Director) You create works of wonder and beauty to share with the world SA - Masterpiece: This SA adds to a characters Play Instrument, Paint or Draw, Sculpt, Perform, Photo and Film, Storytelling, Dance or whatever medium they use. (2 mediums may be chosen at time of taking role.) An Artiste can also choose to employ his EMP in place of Tech when using his chosen Skills. ATHLETE (Martial Artist, Sport Star, Acrobat) You have trained your body to the pinnacle of perfection. Your grace, strength, and agility are a wonder to behold. SA - Prowess : Adds to 2 of the following skills (Chosen when taking the special ability) Athletics, Strength Feat, or Endurance as representation of a perfectly trained body.

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BOUNTY DOG (Bounty Hunter, Repoman) This role is dedicated to tracking down and apprehending those who do not wish to be apprehended, or their property. SA - Trace : Adds to 2 of the following skills (Chosen when taking the special ability) Library Search, Human Perception or Interview when tracking a subject. CORPORATE (Executive, Officer, Union Rep, Stock Trader, Bureaucrat, Manager) You are a company man, you are an expert at promoting and utilizing the resources your employer or business allows you. You are the Power Broker, the CEO, the VIP. SA - Resources: This Special Ability adds to Networking and Business Sense. COP (Police Officer, Guardsman, MP, Sheriff, Peacekeeper, Lawman) You uphold the law, you have the authority to arrest lawbreakers, question anything you find suspicious, and use force to protect yourself and others. SA - Authority: This SA is added to Interrogate and Intimidate.

EDUCATOR (Teacher, Sensei, Philosopher) You devote your life to the art pursuit of knowledge, and bestowing that knowledge on those who would hear it. SA - Mold: This special ability represents a dedicated Educators ability to bestow knowledge, and make his message understood. He adds it to his Teaching skill and Oratory. FIXER (Drug Dealer, Arms Merchant, Pimp, Mafioso, Oyabun, Talent Scout, Black Marketeer, Loan Shark, Fence) You can get what people need, and you can get rid of it when they don’t want it anymore. You are the go to guy, some do it legally, some don’t, but regardless if someone wants something hard to find, they go to a Fixer to get it. SA – Streetdeal: This Special Ability adds to both Streetwise and Persuasion/Fast Talk GRIFTER (Con Artist, Snake Oil Salesman, Card Shark, Hustler,) You make your living comvincing people that up is down, green is blue, the hand is quicker than the eye, the pea is under cup number 3, and you will sell them the bridge for $200. SA - Grift: Adds level to both Persuasion/ Fast Talk and Human Perception.

INFILTRATOR (Spy, Actor, Undercover Agent, Espionage Operative) You can get in anywhere and blend in, even becoming a trusted member of your enemies organization. Your skill at covering your identity and true purpose is paramount. SA – Chameleon: An Infiltrator adds this SA to his Disguise and Perform checks. INSTIGATOR (Activist, Politician, Priest, Wise Man, Revolutionary, Shaman, Guru, Cult Leader, Rockerboy) You are a leader of the people. They listen to you and follow your leadership. You hold sway the hearts and minds of your followers, and attempt to convert those to your way of thinking everywhere you go. You hold influence, and you know how to use it. SA - Charismatic Leadership: This SA is added to Oratory and Leadership. However this skill, similar to a Medias Credibility, is tenuous and if the rocker is perceived as betraying his own words or following a different agenda, his SA will drop accordingly as he loses influence. INVESTIGATOR (Detective, PI, Slueth) You solve mysteries. You examine evidence, clues, and facts. You talk to experts and witnesses, and you get to the truth behind situations. SA – Deduction: This SA is added to Awareness/Notice and Human Perception for the purposes of finding clues or detecting falsehoods. MUNDIE (Clerk, Data Entry, Fast Food Employee, Stockboy, Salaryman, Stableboy, Waitress, Dishwasher, Paige, etc… ) You are one of the drones, but you are also the backbone of society. Most hate it but are ill equipped for anything else, but some actually prefer this life. SA – Conform: You can move from one part time job to the next with ease, instantly finding a stride there. The SA itself is rather subjective, adding to Resist Torture. It determines how long you can maintain employment given low pay, bad conditions, and lack of respect from superiors and customers. At GM discretions it might also add to 1 skill directly correlated to the current employment. For instance someone working at a Pawn Shop could add it to Appraise. MEDIA (Reporter, Journalist, Expert, Lawyer, Correspondent, Crier) You find the facts and report them; your audience knows and respects you for your ability to tell them what is going on in the community and the world. SA – Credibility: This SA is representative of your credentials and reputation for honesty and integrity. It is added to the Medias Interview, and Composition. However, it is a tenuous skill that must be maintained through

honesty and non-bias. For every serious case of bias, dishonesty, or false presentation of facts you committed made public, your Credibility will drop by a point of Skill. However, with individuals who hold the same political or social bias, your credibility will retain its full value. MED TECH (Doctor, Medic, Nurse, Healer, Medicine Man, Pharmacist, Biologist, Surgeon, Veterinarian) You have devoted your life to healing others; the secrets of flesh and blood are open to you. SA - Medical Tech: This SA is added to First Aid and one other chosen Med Skill. NETRUNNER – Post Modern Age Only (Hacker, Digital Cowboy, Comm. Specialist) You have mastered computers and communications, you use them to infiltrate secure information, take over other machines, and cruise the hidden alleys and portals of the vast information highway. SA - Interface: Netrunners may add this to their Programming, and System Knowledge, as they pertain to computers and communications NOMAD (Gypsy, Tribesman, Carnie, Pirate, Gang Member) You are a member of an extended family, always on the move. You are one of your people, you live and die for them, and they for you. They are your strength and your weakness; the family and its needs always come first. SA – Family: The Family SA is added to your Networking and Survival (chose one type, Wilderness, Desert, Arctic, Sea, etc…) RUNNER (Driver, Pilot, Mariner, Rider) You live your life behind he wheel (or stick, or even reigns). Your chosen type of transportation has become an extension of your body, allowing you to make unparalleled maneuvers and push it past the normal limits SA - Vehicle (or Animal) Zen: Adds to Awareness/Notice and Maneuver rolls in the characters chosen type of transportation (Car, Cycle, Heavy Equipment, Aircraft, Watercraft large or small, Submersible, Spacecraft, Animal Mount, etc.). SAVAGE (Barbarian, Berzerker, Neanderthal, Pict, Barfighter) When you enter battle, all that matters is sating the bloodlust within you. You feel no pain, friend and foe become a blur, all you feel is the weight of the weapon in your hand and the wet sticky spray of your foes blood. A savage may choose to use his BOD instead of REF to determine his Brawl/Melee attack. SA - Rampage: Adds level to Intimidate and to hand-to-hand damage only when using Brawling/Melee and CANNOT be used with Martial Arts.

SCOUT (Tracker, Ranger, Hunter, Guerilla, Mountain Man) You are at home in the wild, you can follow your prey over any terrain, you live for the hunt. You are keenly aware of everything that goes on in your domain. SA - Track: In chosen Environment adds level to Awareness Notice, and Survival. SHADOW (Assassin, Ninja, Commando, Cat Burglar,) This role relies on stealth to infiltrate the enemies and accomplish the objectives. SA - Sneak: Adds level to both Stealth/Evasion and Shadow/Track. SOLO (Fighter, Mercenary, Bodyguard, Soldier, Muscle, Swat Member, Warrior, Outrider etc…) This is the basic combat dedicated career; you make your living being the toughest, baddest guy around. SA - Combat Sense: Adds to both Awareness and Initiative. TECHIE (Mechanic, Inventor, Engineer, Smith, Tradesman, Pharmacist, Chef, Chemist, Alchemist) Brilliant with all things mechanical in nature, you are more than a handyman, you are what keeps the gear functioning as well as building and creating the equipment necessary for any situation. Adept: This SA is added to your Jury Rig skill and one single Tech skill of your choice. VAMP (Vixen, Prostitute, Gigolo, Escort, Concubine) You use your good looks, sexual prowess, and other wiles like a hitman wields a gun. You use the tools god gave you and your natural ability to influence those attracted to you to get your way. SA- Allure: This SA is added to a Vamps Seduction, Personal Grooming and Wardrobe and Style. Alternate Rule: GM’s who wish may either forego the use of Roles and Special Abilities altogether, limit them, or create new ones as he sees fit. The formula for creating Special Ability is simple; it adds its level to 2 existing Skills. Be very careful when assigning Skills to SA, avoid anything that would unbalance the game.

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PART 3: SKILLS Learning New Skills and Improving Old Ones To determine the amount of skills a beginning character receives, add up the characters STATS. This number is equal to the amount of Skill Points a character receives to start off with. Some GM’s may wish to raise or lower the amount of Basic Skill points depending on the level of the game they wish to run. At character creation skills cost a flat 1 Skill Point per point of Skill. Additionally, every character gets their native language at an 8 for free. During the game, Players can improve their skills (and Special Abilities) or begin new ones by accumulating Improvement Points (IP). As you gain more IP, you'll record these points in the area next to the skills listing on your Character Sheet. When the character has collected enough Improvement Points in a skill, the skill's level increases by one. The first level of a skill will always cost 10 IP. To determine how many points are required to raise a skill higher than this, multiply the current level of skill by 10. This is how many points are required to raise a simple (IP multiplier=1) skill to the next level. Example: My Brawling skill is +4. To move from +4 to +5 will require 40 IP. To move from +5 to +6 will require 50 IP.

Skill Level 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 IP Cost 10 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 Total IP Cost 10 20 40 70 110 160 220 290 370 460 Alternatively, one could undergo Training. Training a new skill gives a character the equivalent of 1/24 of a point of IP per hour spent learning it. So 24 hours would be required to learn one point. Or, say a character spent 40 hours a week (8 hours a day with time off for the weekend), it would take him 5 years and 4 months to go from 0 to 10 in a skill. For a brief rundown, the chart is as follows. (Having a teacher cuts this time in half.) SKILL LEVEL 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

HRS. REQUIRED 240 240 480 720 960 1200 1440 1680 1920 2160

40HR WEEK / 60HR WEEK 6 WKS / 4 WKS 6 WKS / 4 WKS 12 WKS / 8 WKS 18 WKS / 12 WKS 24 WKS / 16WKS 30 WKS / 20 WKS 36 WKS / 24 WKS 42 WKS / 28 WKS 48 WKS / 32 WKS 54 WKS / 36 WKS

CHARACTER POINTS Character Points are the running total of all a characters skill points. This number is equivalent to a characters “level”, and helps not only to measure progress of the character, but allows GM’s to determine an average number of skill points to assign new or replacement characters who join in after a campaign has begun.

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Guidelines For GM Distribution of IP 1. At the end of a session, one by one have the players give a play by play of their character’s actions and contributions to the game and give IP where it is due. For example: Bob has a character named Joe, at the end of the night we review what happened to him. Bob says, "Okay first I negotiated my way out of that mess with the Voodoo Boyz, then I jumped out the window from the second floor onto the roof of the bus to escape the cops." The GM might then award, 3 points to Persuasion fast talk, and 3 points to Athletics. Get the idea? This is done for two reasons; A. It helps players to develop their characters by making them remember what happened, it also makes sure they pay attention. B. It also is a way to realistically increase their skills and lets the GM keep track of them easier, instead of just throwing out a lump sum and watching them dump it all into one skill you make sure the points get distributed where they are deserved. 2. Give a small amount of general IP simply for surviving. General IP can be used for anything except special abilities. If a character does something simply extraordinary or creative, the GM might want to give them a little extra bonus, which will in turn promote like behavior with the rest of the group and ensure a more creative game dynamic. An Alternative method is to have players, on a separate index card, scratch sheet of paper, or the IP TRACKING CARD, keep track of the skills they use during a session, and the GM can then compare it to the following chart. SKILL CHECK

IP PER USE RESULT

FUMBLE FAILURE SUCCESS CRITICAL SUCCESS

-1 point 0 points 1 point 2 points

Optional Rule: GM’s may wish to limit the level of skill a player can take during character creation. For instance he may wish to only allow characters to take 2 skills above a 5. Or he may wish to REDUCE the Starting Skill Point total by 10% for every Age prior to modern he wishes to run a campaign in, both to represent the limits of education and to preserve balance among the diminished skill lists.

Skills Introduced by Era/Setting 5301 BC- (Prehistoric/Savage) SPECIAL ABILITIES Adept (Techie) Allure (Vamp) Rampage (Savage) Combat Sense (Solo) Family (Nomad) Mold (Educator) Sneak (Shadow) Track (Scout)

5,300 BC+ (Historical or Fantasy, Ancient Egypt and Asia, Dark Ages, Middle Ages) SPECIAL ABILITIES

Endurance Rowing Strength Feat Swimming

Animal Bond (Animal Empath) Authority (Cop) Chameleon (Infiltrator) Charismatic Leadership (Instgator) Conform (Mundie) Credibility (Media) Deduction (Investigator) Grift (Grifter) Masterpiece (Artiste) Medical Tech (Medtech) Prowess (Athlete) Resources (Corporate) Streetdeal (Fixer) Trace (Bounty Dog) Vehicle Zen (Runner)

COOL

BODY

ATTR Wardrobe & Style Personal Grooming

BODY

Intimidate Leadership Resist Torture/Drugs

EMP Animal Handling Human Perception Parenting Seduction Sing Social Storytelling

INT Awareness/Notice Expert: (Subject) Gardening/Farming Language: (Basic or Primitive) Navigation Shadow/Track Survival: (Environment) Teaching

REF Athletics Brawling/Melee Dance Initiative Pilot: Animal Stealth/Evasion Weapon: Archery

TECH Cooking Disguise Paint or Draw Jury Rig Sculpt Sewing Tattooing (Hand-Pick) Traps and snares

1500+ (Renaissance, Elizabethan, Age of Pirates) REF Pilot: Dirigible Weapon: Handgun Weapon: Rifle

TECH Demolitions Makeup/Special effects

1800+ (Victorian, Old West) REF Pilot: Heavy Machinery

TECH Photography & Film

1900+ (Pulp Era) COOL Skydiving

Fitness/Body Building

COOL Interrogation Oratory Streetwise

EMP Design Hypnotism/Brainwashing Interview Lip Reading Massage Networking Perform Persuasion & Fast Talk

INT Accounting Appraise Business Sense Composition Diagnose Illness Education & General Knowledge Gamble Language: (Choose One) Library Search

REF Acrobatics Blind Fighting Juggle Martial Arts: (Style) Pilot: Sail Driven Weapon: Heavy Weapons TECH Calligraphy (European/Chinese) Demolitions Forgery Glass blowing Jeweler Origami Med: First Aid Med: Pharmaceuticals Med:Surgery Pick Lock Pick Pocket/Sleight of hand Play Instrument Rope Use Stage Magic Tech: Basic Tech: Carpentry Tech: Chemistry Tech: Metal Smith Tech: Weaponsmith

REF Pilot: Car/Truck Pilot: Fixed Wing Pilot: Glider Pilot: Motorcycle Pilot: Sub (Large/Small) Weapon: Sub Machinegun

TECH Typing Tattooing (Electric) Tech: Electronics Tech: Marine/Underwater Equip Tech: Pressure Suit Tech: Submarine

1960+ (Modern Era) SA Interface (Netrunner)

INT Programming Library Search S.C.U.B.A. System Knowledge

REF Pilot: EVA Pilot: Gyro Pilot: OTV Pilot: Remote Pilot: Space Plane/Shuttle Pilot: Vectored Thrust Skate/Ski/Surf Underwater Maneuver Zero-G Maneuver

TECH Electronic Security Tech: Aero Tech: AV Tech: Cyber Tech: Gyro Tech: Spacecraft Video Manipulation

Future+ (Tomorrow & Beyond) REF Pilot: ACPA

TECH Cryotank Operation Tech: Cyberdeck Design Tech: Powered Armor Tech: Wetware

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SKILL DESCRIPTIONS SPECIAL ABILITIES Adept (Tech) - This SA is added to your Jury Rig skill and one single

Mold (Educator) - This special ability represents a dedicated Educators ability to bestow knowledge, and make his message understood. He adds it to his Teaching skill and Oratory.

Tech skill of your choice.

Prowess (Athlete) - Adds to 2 of the following skills (Chosen when Allure (Vamp) - This SA is added to a Vamps Seduction, Personal Grooming, and Wardrobe and Style

taking the special ability) Athletics, Strength Feat, or Endurance as representation of a perfectly trained body.

Animal Bond (Animal Empath) - Adds to Animal Handling and

Resources (Corporate) - This Special Ability adds to Networking and

Teaching when dealing with animals.

Bureaucracy.

Authority (Cop) - This SA is added to Interrogate and Intimidate.

Rampage (Savage) - Adds level to Intimidate and to hand to hand damage only when using Brawling/Melee (NOT martial arts).

Chameleon (Infiltrator) - An Infiltrator adds this SA to his Disguise and Perform checks.

Streetdeal (Fixer) - Added to your Cool/Will Stat, this Special Ability adds to both Streetwise and Persuasion/Fast Talk

Charismatic Leadership (Instigator) - This SA is added to Oratory and Leadership. However this skill, similar to a Medias Credibility, is tenuous and if the rocker is perceived as betraying his own words, or following a different agenda, his SA will drop accordingly as he loses influence.

Trace (Bounty Dog) - Adds to 2 of the following skills (Chosen when taking the special ability) Library Search, Human Perception or Interview when tracking a subject. Track (Scout) - In chosen Environment adds level to Awareness Notice,

Combat Sense (Solo) - Adds to both Awareness and Initiative.

and Survival.

Sneak (Shadow) - Adds level to both Stealth and Shadow/Track,

Vehicle Zen (Runner) - Adds to Awareness/Notice and Maneuver rolls in the characters chosen type of transportation (Car, Cycle, Heavy Equipment, Aircraft, Watercraft large or small, Submersible, Spacecraft, Animal Mount, etc.).

Conform (Mundie) - You can move from one part time job to the next with ease, instantly finding a stride there. The SA itself is rather subjective, and adds to your Resist Torture. It determines how long you can maintain employment given the low pay, bad conditions, and lack of respect from superiors and customers. At GM discretions it might also add to 1 skill directly correlated to the current employment. For instance someone working as a Secretary could add it to Typing. Credibility (Media) - This SA is representative of your credentials and reputation for honesty and integrity. It is added to the Medias Interview, and Oratory. However, it is a tenuous skill that must be maintained through honesty and non-bias. For every serious case of bias, dishonesty, or false presentation of facts you committed made public, your Credibility will drop by a point of Skill. However, with individuals who hold the same political or social bias, your credibility will retain its full value. Deduction (Investigator) - This SA is added to Awareness/Notice and Human Perception for the purposes of finding clues or detecting falsehoods.

Family (Nomad) - The Family SA is added to your Networking and Survival (chose one type, Wilderness, Desert, Arctic, Sea, etc…)

Grift (Grifter) - Adds level to both Persuasion/Fast Talk and Human Perception.

Interface(Netrunner) - Netrunners add this to their Programming, and System Knowledge, as they pertain to computers and communications. Masterpiece (Artiste) - This SA adds to a characters Play Instrument, Paint or Draw, Sculpt, Perform, Photo and Film, Storytelling, Dance or whatever medium they use. (2 mediums may be chosen at time of taking role.) An Artiste can also choose to employ his EMP in place of Tech when using his chosen Skills. Medical Tech (Medtech) - This SA is added to First Aid and one Med Skill chosen upon taking the role.

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ATTR Personal Grooming - This is the skill of knowing proper grooming, hair styling, etc., to maximize your physical attractiveness. Use of this skill allows players to increase their Attractiveness, and thus their chances of successful Relationships or Persuasion. A basically good-looking person would be at +2. A fashion model might have a Personal Grooming of +5 or +6. At +8 or better, you could be major fashion model, film star, or trendsetter. You are always "together". And know it. Wardrobe & Style - The skill of knowing the right clothes to wear, when to wear them, and how to look cool even in a spacesuit. With Wardrobe +2 or better, you are good at choosing clothes off the rack. At +6, your friends ask you for wardrobe tips, and you never buy anything off the rack. At +8 or better, you are one of those rare people whose personal style influences major fashion trends.

BODY Endurance - This is the ability to withstand pain or hardship, particularly over long periods of time, by knowing the best ways to conserve strength and energy. Endurance Skill checks would be made whenever a character must continue to be active a long period without food, sleep or water. This skill also determines how long a character can hold his breath. At +2 a character can hold his breath for an addition minute, at + 5 it increases to 2 minutes, +8 three minutes, and +10 4 minutes. These extra minutes are added to the “no activity” category of breathing based on body types, and will suffer the same of greater air consumption penalties during activity. Fitness/Body Building - with this skill a character can increase one aspect of their BOD, REF, TECH, or MA Stat by 1 point (max of 10) for every 2 points of this skill earned. (Only one Stat may be raised at a time, if the skill diminishes, the Stat will be reduced to fit, although it will not drop below the original rolled Stat.) (GM’s may choose to allow this skill to increase stats past 10, but after 10 IP cost is x2 the normal formula.) Rowing – The ability to row vessels, such as rowboats, canoes, kayaks, Viking long ships, etc… (Also includes pole pushed vessels ) Strength Feat - The user of this skill has practiced the art of bending bars, crushing objects, ripping phone books apart and other useful parlor tricks. At +3, no phonebook is safe, you can bend thin rebar, and snap handcuffs. At +10, you can bend prison bars, rip up the Gutenberg Bible, and dent car fenders with one blow. For every point of the Strength Feat skill, a character may modify his carry weight, dead lift weight , and his Throw distance by 5% in kg. Difficulty modifier for doing this successfully is 15, +3 for every 10% kg over what is normally allowed Swimming - This skill is require to know how to swim (see Athletics for more details).

COOL Interrogation - The skill of drawing information from subject and forcing his secrets into open An Interrogation of +2 or better will allow to infallible find out if your boyfriend is lying to you. A +5, you are professional level interrogator - equivalent to skilled detective grilling a suspect. Mike Wallace 60 Minutes has an Interrogation +9, allowing him to make even most powerful people squirm. Intimidate - The skill of getting people to do what you want by forcing personality or physical coercion. At +3, you can frighten almost any typical citizen, politician or low-level thug. At +6, you can intimidate Sylvester Stallone or any moderate "tough guy". At +9, you could intimidate Arnold Schwarzenegger. Every point of a characters ATTR below 5 on gives a +1 to Intimidation. Leadership - The skill of leading and convincing people to follow you. A leader with a skill +2 can manage a small office successfully and be respected for it. A leader with skill +4 or better can lead a small band of troops into battle and not get backshot. A leader with a skill of +7 or better can lead the entire Gamelon Empire into battle and look good doing it.

Oratory - The skill of public speaking. At +2, you can wing high school contests. At +6, you can be paid speech in public. At +10, you are capable of delivering a speech to rival Kennedy's "Ichn Bin Ein Berliner" or Lincoln's Gettysburgs Address. Rockers with Oratory Skill of +6 or better can add +1 when using their Charismatic Leadership ability. This also covers the use of Rhetoric. Resist Torture/Drugs - Characters with this skill are especially toughened against interrogation, torture and mind control drugs. A successful use of this skill will automatically increase the difficulty of any Interrogation attempt made by another guy by one level. Skydiving - the skill of remaining calm enough to pull your ripcord, while plummeting towards the earth at terminal velocity. Streetwise - The knowledge of the "seamy" ways of life - where to get illegal and contraband things, how to talk to the criminal environment, and avoiding bad situations in bad neighborhoods. With Streetwise of +3 or better, you can get "hot" items, drugs, etc. With a Streetwise of +5 you know how to arrange a murder contract, you know a few mobsters who might owe you, and be able to call on muscle when you need it. At +8 or better, you could become a major crimelord yourself. (See page 68)

EMP Animal Handling – The ability to care for, train, and control animals. Includes knowing what food they eat, their space requirements, common temperament and behavior, and how to groom them. Design - the ability to visualize the proper placement of things for maximum aesthetic and function. Human Perception - The skill of detecting any evasions, moods and other emotional clues from others. At +2, you can usually feel when you're not getting the whole truth. At +6, you can detect subtle evasions and mood swings. At +8, you can not only detect subtle emotional clues, but can usually tell what the subject is hiding in a general way. Hypnotism/Brainwashing - the ability to put another person into a trance, and cause them to be under your control. Interview - The skill of eliciting interesting anecdotes from interview subject. This information will be of a more non-specific and personal nature rather than specific knowledge (distinguishing this skill from the skill Interrogation, where the user is trying to extract exact information. (Example: Barbara Walters interviews, Mike Wallace interrogates). At +3 or better, the subject will usually tell you only information relating to what he/she is well known for. At +6 or better, the subject will tell you anecdotes about the past, pontificate about favorite interests and philosophies, etc. At +9 or better, he/she tells you everything - including personal information about their illegitimate son, the time they stole a cookie at age +4, and the fact that no one ever loved them. Lip Reading – The ability to decipher what someone is saying merely by watching their mouth as they are speaking.

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Massage - The ability through physical manipulation, to relax another. (While some would place this skill under TECH, I feel that more than anything else it has to do with the level of trust, and comfort between 2 people. Someone who is not comfortable around people, will not be able to perform a very good massage. The art of massage is all about radiating trust and comfort, and therefore is an EMP based skill.) Networking - The skill of recognizing useful people and the services they can provide, and cultivating a mutually beneficial relationship. In short it allows you to form and utilize connections through common goals, services, and requirements. (See page 68)

or greater, you routinely perform the sorts of deductive reasoning seen in the average TV cop show ("The murder was left handed because this knife has a specialized handle"). Sherlock Holmes has a +10 Awareness. Players without skill may only use their Intelligence Stat. Players of any Role should get a bonus if the Awareness task directly relates to their Special Ability; if a Medtech gets a fairly good Awareness roll, they may not realize they are walking into an ambush, but they will notice that the "Judas" is sweating profusely. Bureaucracy – The skill of maneuvering through, and laying down, the confusing, frustrating, and time consuming channels of bureaucracy.

Parenting - The ability to successfully raise and nurture children. Perform - The skill of trained acting, singing, etc. A trained performer of +4 or greater can successfully perform on stage for payment at small theaters or bit parts in film or television. Performers of +6 or greater will be considered to be of professional caliber, and may have lucrative contacts and fans. Performers of +9 or greater are of "star: caliber, have a large number of fans, and may be recognized on the street. Persuasion & Fast Talk - The ability to talk others into doing what you want. This may be used individually or on large groups. At +3, you can win most debates or convince your girlfriend the blonde you were with was your sister. At +5, you are a smooth talker of professional caliber. Ronald Reagan had a Persuasion of +7, Hitler a Persuasion of +9. (See page 66) Seduction - The skill of forming and maintaining romantic relationships (this includes your abilities as a lover). This skill may be used to determine whether or not players can form relationships with other non-players characters and the intensity of these relationships. Every point of a characters ATTR over 6 gives a +1 modifier to seduction. (See page 67) Social - The ability to deal with social situations, like knowing the right fork to use or when not to tell the joke about farmer's daughter and the traveling salesman. A Social skill of +2 or better will allow you to get by at any fine restaurant or social function. At +5, you can lunch with the President with aplomb. No social situation will faze you , no matter what. At +8 or above, you can lecture Emily Post on what's proper. Storytelling - the skill of telling a compelling story.

INT Accounting - The ability to balance books (or create false books), juggle numbers, create budgets and handle day to day business operations. Appraise - the skill of determining the monetary worth of an item. (See page 68) Awareness/Notice - This is equivalent of a "trained observer" skill, allowing characters to notice or be aware of clues, shadows and other events. With an Awareness of +2 you will usually spot small pieces of paper with noted on them, doors left ajar , and obvious expressions of lying or dislike. An Awareness of +5 or better allows you to spot fairly well hidden clues, and fairly sophisticated attempts to "shadow" you. With an Awareness of +8

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Business Sense – The ability to read the stock market for fluctuations, enabling a trader to recognize the right time to buy and sell commodities. It also allows a character to know what is in demand, and recognize current trends in consumer habits and requirements. Chemistry - The required skill for mixing chemicals various compounds. A level +2 Chemistry is equal to high school chemistry. A level +4 is equal to a trained pharmacist or college level chemist. A +8 is a trained laboratory chemist. This also covers Alchemy. Composition - The required skill for writing songs, articles, or stories. A Composition Skill of +4 or greater gives your character the ability to produce salable work. A Skill of +8 or more produces work of such a high caliber that the creator may have a strong literary following and not a little critical acclaim. Med: Diagnose Illness - The skill of clinically diagnosing symptoms and medical problems. A +3 is the equivalent of a high school nurse - you can recognize most common injuries and complaints. At +6, you would be equivalent to a trained intern; you can recognize many uncommon illnesses and know how to treat most common ones. A +9 is equivalent to you to get a diagnosis. Education & General Knowledge - This skill is the equivalent of a basic school education, allowing you to know how to read, write, use basic math, and know enough history to get by. In effect, it is a "lore" or trivia skill. A skill of +1 is a basic grade school education. A skill of +2 is equal to a high school equivalency. A Knowledge Skill of +3 is equal to a college education, +4 or higher is equal to a Masters or Doctorate. At +7, you are an extremely well educated person, and are asked to play Trivial Pursuit a lot. At +9 and above, you are one of those people who know a lot about everything (hopefully with the good sense to keep his mouth shut). Expert: (Subject) - You may use this skill to be an expert on one specific subject, such as rare postage stamps, obscure weapon, a foreign language, etc. At +3, you are the local expert. At +6, you know enough to publish a few books on the subject. At +8 or better, your books are recognized as major texts on the subject, and you could do the talk-show circuit if you wanted to. Additionally, any character may treat any of their regular skills as an expert skill at half level for the purposes of identifying the make and model, general knowledge, country of origin, etc., by replacing the normal stat associated with the skill for their INT stat. For example: Jerry the solo with a minor gun fetish really likes the weapon he sees in the guards holster, He rolls his Handgun using INT (Instead of REF) to realize it’s a an H&K VP-70.

EXAMPLES OF EXPERT SKILLS Expert: Anthropology Expert: Archeology Expert: Architecture Expert: Astrology Expert: Astronomy Expert: Bank Systems Expert: Biology Expert: Biotech Expert: Braindance/VR Expert: Climatology Expert: Communications Expert: Computer Design Expert: Construction Expert: (Corporation) Operations Expert: Corp. Procedures Expert: Economics Expert: Electronic Warfare Expert: Etiquette Expert: Executive Expert: Forensic Science Expert: Geology Expert: Graphology Expert: History Expert: Holistic Medicine Expert: Intelligence Analysis Expert: International Business Expert: Law Expert: Logistics Expert: Mathematics Expert: Marine Biology Expert: Marine Technology

Expert: Military Hardware Expert: Military History Expert: Military Procedures Expert: Military Weapons Expert: Naval Operations Expert: Oceanography Expert: Poisons Expert: Politics Expert: Physics Expert: Pop Culture Expert: Production Expert: Psychology Expert: Robotics Expert: Runic Lore Expert: Seamanship Expert: Sports Expert: Small Arms Expert: Sociology Expert: Software Expert: Special Operations Expert: Supernatural Lore Expert: Tactics Expert: Strategy Expert: Theology Expert: Torture Expert: Underwater Materials Expert: US Naval Operations Expert: Veterinary Medicine Expert: Wargames Expert: Weaponry Expert: Zoology

Gamble - The skill on knowing how to make bets, figure odds, and play games of chance successfully. As any professional gambler knows, this is not a luck skill. At +2, you are the local card shark at the Saturday night poker game. At +6, you can make a living at the tables in Vegas or Monte Carlo. At +9 or better, you take on James Bond at roulette and stand a good chance of breaking the bank. Gardening/Farming - Ability to successfully grow plants/ crops. Language: (Choose one) - The knowledge of foreign tongue. At +2, you can "get by" with speaking the language. At +3, you can actually read a written from of it. At +6 and above, you are fairly fluent, although no naive will be fooled by your ability. At +8 and above, you speak and read language like a native. Each language known requires a separate Know Language Skill (see list of languages), however, one may use the knowledge of a particular Language with up to half (round down) proficiency with any language in the same linguistic family (example: knowing Cantonese at +4 will give you the ability to understand and speak Mandarin at +2). Basic language has no alphabet, and is usually is only able to express simple ideas in grunts and gestures. Primitive language is not written, but can be advanced and able to express complicated ideas and thought. (See page 15) Library Search - The skill of using databases, DataTerms™, libraries and other compiled information sources to find facts. With a skill of +2 you can use most simple databases. With a skill of +6, you can easily access the Library of Congress. At +9, you can comprehend near any public databases and find very obscure facts. Magic (Stage Magic) – The skill of illusion, prestidigitations. The ability to perform magic tricks. Fun at parties. Navigation - The ability to determine your location, and course of travel. (Taking an Expert Skill in an “unusual” environment, such as Space, Undersea, or even Astral Planes, will allow you to use Navigation in said environment).

Programming - The required skill to write programs and reprogram computer system. This skill does not allow players to actually do repairs on a computer (this requires Electronics). With a Programming Skill of +1, you can do simple E-BASIC programs. A Programming Skill of +3 or better allows you to know some higher level languages and he able to write reasonably complex programs (including video games). Players with Programming Skill +6 or better are considered to be professionals, who can build operating software, design mainframe systems, and hold down a steady job at your average Silicon Valley firm. With a Programming Skill of +9 or better, other programmers speak your name with reverence ("You invented Q? Wow!"), young hackers set out to crack your systems, and any computer software you design instantly gets used by every business application in wide world. This is a required skill for Hacking/Netrunning. S.C.U.B.A. - The skill of using and SCUBA gear. (It is not necessary to have swimming to use this skill, but it is highly recommended.) Shadow/Track - The skill of shadowing/following people. This skill is used in urban/inhabited areas rather than in the wilderness (where the skill Survival incorporates tracking game in the wild). Survival – The required skill for knowing how to survive in a given environment such as Wilderness, Jungle, Desert, Arctic, Urban, Sea, Underwater, Space. Typical applications include how to forage for wood, build shelters, what plants are safe to eat, what to do in an emergency, and make fires. The average Boy Scout has a Survival of +3. A Special Forces Green Beret has a Survival of +6 or above. Grizzly Adams, Mountain Man of the Wilderness, would have +9 or +10 Survival Skill. While each environment is its own skill, you can use your chosen survival at half its level in other environments at the GM’s discretion determined by similarity of environment. (Example Wilderness Survival would allow the character to use half his skill in a Jungle or Urban environment, while Space or Desert would provide no bonus at all) System Knowledge - Basic knowledge of the geography of the Net, it's lore and history, as well as knowledge of the important computer systems, their strengths and their weaknesses. At +2, you can generally navigate around the Net and know where all the local places are. At +6, you know the locations of most places in the Net, and have a working understanding of its largest and most well know systems. At +9, you know the entire Net like the back of your hand, know the general layouts of the important systems cold, and are aware of the layouts for the rest of them. This is a required skill for Hacking/Netrunning. Teaching - The skill of imparting knowledge to someone (if you don't think this is skill, you ought tot try is someone). Players may not teach any skill unless they have higher skill levels, in both teaching, and the skill(s) being taught, than the student. The training chart determines length of time it takes to teach a skill, though a truly gifted teacher may be able to do it faster or more effectively, at GM’s discretion. At a Teaching Skill of +3 or better, you can professionally teach students up to High School. At +6, you can teach at a college level. At +9 or greater, you are recognized by others in the field as good enough to guest lecture at MIT or Cal Tech; your texts on the subject are quoted as a major references. A successful teaching roll, will allow over the course of time, a student to raise a specific skill as if it were 1 level lower (ie to go from 5-6 will only cost as much IP as to go from 4-5).

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REF Athletics - This skill is required for accurate throwing, climbing, and balancing. It combines the basic elements of any high school level sports program. At +3 and above, you are the equivalent of a real high school "jock". At +5 and above, you can perform in college level competitions. At +8 and above, you are of Olympic or Professional caliber. Every point of Athletics will also modify: a characters: Run, Leap, and Climb distances by 5% a round. Blind Fighting - The ability to defend and attack without the use of your eyes. For every 3 levels of this skill taken, the penalty for fighting while blinded is reduced by 1. Brawling/Melee – Brawling is the skill of fighting man to man with fist, feet and other parts of the body, it also covers Melee which is the ability to use knives, axes, clubs and other hand to hand weapons in combat. Brawling is not a trained skill - it is the basic skill of defending oneself. Unlike Martial Arts, there are no specialized attacks and no damage bonus per level. It does allow for all the same maneuvers as a Martial art, but provides no bonus to any of them. If the character has the Savage Role, he may add +1 per level of Rampage to Brawl/Melee damage.

professional driver. A skill of +6 allows you to drive with the skill of a moderately skilled race driver. A driver with skill of +8 or greater will be nationally ship races, and possibly have access to the most advanced ground vehicles available (as long as he makes an endorsement). Pilot: Deep Dive Suit – The ability to pilot and control powered deep sea diving rigs. Pilot: Dirigible - The ability to pilot all lighter than air vehicles, including cargo dirigibles, blimps and powered balloons. Pilot: EVA – How to use EVA packs, hand held thrusters, and other personal propulsion devices in space. Pilot: Fixed Wing - The ability to pilot fixed wing jets and light aircraft. Ospreys may be flown with this skill, but not only in the straight ahead (non-hover) mode. Pilot: Glider – The ability to glide and control a hang glider, parasail, or glider. Pilot: Gyro - The ability to pilot all types of rotorwing aircraft, including gyros, copters and Ospreys.

Dance - The specific skill needed to become a professional dancer. A trained dancer +4 or greater can successfully dance for payment in small clubs or dance troupes. Dancers +6 or greater will be considered to professional caliber, and regularly give performances and have fans. Dancers +9 or greater are of "star" caliber, have a large number of fans, and may be recognized on the street.

Pilot: Heavy Machinery - The required skill to operate tractors, treaded vehicles, extremely large trucks and construction equipment.

Initiative - This skill determines how quickly you react to your environment and situations. It also determines how many actions you may perform in a combat round. (See Multiple Actions in Combat Rules)

Pilot: OTV – The Ability to pilot OTV’s and other small cargo or personal type spaceraft.

Juggle - the ability to toss multiple objects into the air and prevent them from hitting the ground by catching and re-tossing them in succession.

Pilot: Remote – The ability to control remote operated vehicles.

Martial Arts: (Style) - This skill covers any type of trained fighting style using hands, feet, or specialized "martial arts" weapons. You must elect a style of martial art and take a separate skill for each style (for example, you would have to take Karate and Judo separately, spending points for each one. Difficulty modifiers are listed in () next tot each skill listed below. The primary advantage to martial arts styles is that each one has what are called key attacks; attacks that reflect particular strengths of style. When a key attack is used, there is to-hit bonus based on the attack type and martial arts style. A full table of key attacks is listed in Martial Arts. The second advantage to martial arts styles is that there is a damage bonus on attacks equal to half the level of the Martial Arts skill; for example, a master with a +10 Kung Fu Skill would add 5 points to his damage. This can be formidable advantage, although bludgeoning head strikes do NOT double damage. Pilot: Animal - The ability to control and ride animals. Pilot Car/Truck - This skill allows you to pilot all ground vehicles like cars, trucks, and hovercraft. This skill is not usable for piloting aircraft. A skill +3 is equal to that of a very good non-

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Pilot: Motorcycle - The required skill to operate motorcycles, and other two and three-wheeled vehicles.

Pilot: PA – The ability to pilot and control Heavy Powered Armor.

Pilot: Sailing – The skill required to pilot a wind driven vessel of any type, be it windsurfer, sailboat, or large ship Pilot: Ship - The ability to pilot large surface ships Pilot: Space Plane/Shuttle – The ability to pilot spacecraft. Pilot: Sub (Large/Small) – The ability to pilot a submersible craft. Pilot: Vectored Thrust - The skill of piloting all types of vectored thrust vehicles, and AV-4, 6 and 7 vehicles. Pilot: Watercraft – The ability to pilot powered boats and personal watercraft. Skating/Skateboarding – The Ability to ride a Skateboard, Roller-skates, or alternatively a snowboard, surfboard or boogie board. Skiing, either water or snow, also falls under this skill. Stealth/Evasion - The skill of hiding in shadows, moving silently, evading guards, etc. A Stealth Skill of +1 is about the level of a very sneaky 10 year old stealing cookies. At +3, you are able to get past most guards, or your parents if you've been grounded. At +6, you are good enough to slip smoothly from shadow and not make

any noise. At +8, you are the equal of most Ninja warriors. At +10, you move as silently as a shadow, making the Ninja sound like elephants.

Glass Blowing - The skill of using heat and air to shape glass. Jeweler - The ability to cut and polish stones and gems and create jewelry from precious metals and stones.

Underwater Maneuver - The ability to fight underwater. Weapon: Archery - The skill required to use bows, crossbows and other arrow-based ranged weapons. See Handgun for details. Weapon: Handgun - You must have this skill to effectively use handguns of any type, including cyberware types. At +2, you ca use a handgun on a target range, through combat will still rattle you. At +5, you are as skilled as most military officers of fancy shooting you see on TV, and have begun to get a reputation of being "good with gun". A +8, you are a recognized gunslinger with a "rep". The very sound of your name makes some people back down in fear. At +10, you are a legendary gunslinger, feared by all except the stupid young punks who keep trying to "take" you in innumerable gunfight challenges. Weapon: Heavy Weapons - The required skill for using grenade launchers, autocannon, mortars, heavy machine guns, missiles and rocket launchers. A level +5 skill would be equivalent to a general military "Heavy Weapons" training course, giving the user the ability to use any or all of these weapon types. Weapon: Rifle - You must have this skill to use rifle/shotguns effectively (see Handgun limitations and modifiers). Weapon: Sub Machinegun - You must have this skill to use any type of submachine gun effectively (see Handgun for limitations and modifiers). Zero-G Maneuver - The ability to move around with the aid of gravity.

TECH Calligraphy (European/Chinese) – The art of writing beautifully, there are two styles, Asian and European, both must be learned as separate skills. Cooking – The ability to prepare food. Demolitions - This skill allows the character to be knowledgeable in the use of explosives, as well as knowing the best explosives to use for which jobs, how to set times and detonators, and how much explosives to use to accomplish a desired result. Disguise - The skill of disguising yourself to resemble someone else, whether real or fictitious.

Electronic Security - The skill of installing or countering electronic eyes, electronic locks, bugs and tracers, security cameras, pressure plates, etc. At level +3, you can jimmy or install most apartment locks and security cams. At +6, you can override most corporate office locks and traps. At +9, you can enter most high security area with impunity. Forgery - The skill of copying and creating false documents and identifications. This skill Forgery also be applied to the detection of same; if you can fake it, you can usually tell a fake as well.

Jury Rig – This skill allows you to repair or construct equipment using items and supplies from salvaged parts and junk most people would not think to use.

Makeup/Special effects - The art of creating a desired effect through the use of make-up, people with this skill can add it to their disguise. Med: Cryotank Operation - The required skill for operating, repairing and maintaining life suspension and body chilling devices. A minimum skill of +4 is required to chill down a healthy person. A minimum skill of +6 for chilling a wounded person. Med: First Aid - This skill allows the user to bind wounds, stop bleeding, and revive a stunned patient. (See Trauma Team for details). Med: Pharmaceuticals - The skill of designing and manufacturing drugs and medicines. A minimum Chemistry skill of +4 is required. At +4, you can make aspirin. At +6, you can make hallucinogenics or antibiotics. At level +9 you can build designer drugs tailored to individual body chemistries. Med: Surgery - The ability to cut into a living thing and remove, implant, or make repairs. Origami - The art of folding paper to look like other things. Paint or Draw - The skill of producing professional drawings. A skill of +3 allows you to produce salable "modern" art. A Skill of +6 will produce artwork that is recognized end extremely pleasant to eye - as well as salable. An artist with a Skill of +8 or greater will be nationally known, have exhibitions in galleries, and have other lesser artists studying his style in art. Photography & Film - The skill of producing professional caliber photographs or video. A skill of +2 allows you to make decent home movies. A Skill +4 or better creates work capable of winning amateur contests. A Skill of +6 or better will produce work of the level of the average magazine cover or rock video. A photographer or cinematographer with a Skill of +8 is known and probably famous. Pick Lock - The skill required to pick locks and break into sealed containers and rooms. At +3, you can jimmy most simple locks. At +6 you can crack most safes. At +9 or better, you have a rep as master crackman, and are known to all the major players in the Cyberpunk world. Pick Pocket/Sleight Of Hand - The required skill for picking pockets without being noticed, as well as "shoplifting" small items. For ideas on levels of ability see Pick Lock. This also covers Sleight of Hand, the skill of making small objects disappear and reappear by using misdirection, nimble hand and finger movements, and other tricks. Play Instrument - The skill of knowing how to play a musical instrument. You must take this skill separately for each type of instrument played. A skill of +4 or higher will qualify your character to play professional "gigs". A Skill of +8 and above will

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gain some professional acclaim, possibly with recording contracts and command performances. At +10, you are widely acclaimed, have lots of Grammy’s, and regularly jam with the very best. Rope Use - The ability to use a rope effectively, tie knots, etc...

Tech: Marine - Ability to repair boats, ships, docks S.C.U.B.A. gear, and other marine equipment. Tech: Powered Armor - The ability to repair Powered Armor and Linear Frames.

Sculpt – The ability to create 3-dimensional works of art. Tech: Pressure Suit - The skill required to repair a pressure suit. Sewing – The art of using needle and thread to make clothing, blankets, etc… Knitting, quilting, crocheting, and weaving also fall under this skill. Tattooing (Electric/Hand-picked) – The art of using needle and ink to decorate or mark the body. Tech: Aero - The required skill for repairing fixed wing aircraft, including Ospreys, jets, and light aircraft. With a Skill of +3, you can perform most routine maintenance tasks. With a Skill of +6, you can do engine tear downs and major structural repairs. With a Skill +9 or better you are capable of designing and building your own aircraft. Tech: AV - The required skill for repairing all aerodyne vehicles. At +3, you can perform routine maintenance. At +6, you can tear down engines and modify an AV. At +10, you can design your own AV’s on common airframes. Tech: Basic - The required skill for building or repairing simple mechanical and electrical devices, such as car engines, Toasters, etc... With a Basic Tech Skill of +3, or better, you can fix minor car problems, repair basic wiring, etc. A Basic Tech Skill of +6 or better can rebuild an engine, etc. A Basic Tech Skill of +9 or better can put together a race car engine, and maintain industrial machinery. However, they do not know enough specialized knowledge to apply it to complex things such as aircraft (just like Mr. Goodwrench) doesn't know how to build and service an F-16). Tech: Carpentry – The ability to cut, mold, and utilize wood for construction or aesthetic purposes. Tech: Cyber - The required skill for repairing and maintaining cyberware. At level +2, you can keep your cyberware turned up and replace its power batteries. At level +6, you can strip down most cyberware and even make simple modifications. At level +8, you can design your own cyberware to order. This skill also covers Robotics. Tech: Cyberdeck Design - The required skill for designing cyberdecks. At level +4, you can modify an existing cyberdeck for greater speed or memory. At level +6, you can design a deck equal to most existing designs. At +8, you can design decks that are substantially improved over existing designs. Tech: Electronics - The required skill for maintaining, repairing and modifying electronic instruments such as computers, personal electronics hardware, electronic security systems, cameras and monitors. Tech: Gyro - The skill or repairing and maintaining rotorwing aircraft such as helicopters and ospreys. Tech: Metal Smith - Forging, and shaping metal objects, includes metallurgy, or the ability to mix ores to create the most suitable metals.

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Tech: Spacecraft - The ability to repair spacecraft. Tech: Submarine - The ability to maintain and repair submersibles of all types. Tech: Weaponsmith - The skill for repairing and maintaining weapons. At level +2, you can do repairs and field stripping. At level +6, you can repair all types of weapons and make simple modifications. At level +8 you can design your own weapons to order. Tech: Wetware Design – The ability to design and create direct neural interface cyber and bioware. Traps and Snares - The ability to create booby traps, snares, and other nasty surprises. Typing - The skill of using a type writer, word processor, or keyboard, skill x 10 determines amount of words per minute typed. Video Manipulation – The skill of altering video or photographs, or using the computer as an artistic medium.

LANGUAGES Expanded Language Groups Once you've learned one language in a linguistic family, you may learn any other language in that family at -1 to the normal IP cost. The values in parentheses are the IP multipliers for learning languages in that family. Each language requires a separate Know Language Skill, however one may use the knowledge of a particular Language with up to 1/2 (round down) proficiency with any language in the same linguistic family, and also can act as an Expert: Social at half value for the language group. Albanian Armenian Australian Aboriginal Baltic: Latvian (Lettish), Lithuanian Basque Celtic: Breton, Irish Gaelic, Manx, Scottish Gaelic, Welsh Creole & Patois: French Creole, Rasta-Patois Dravidian: Gondi, Kannada, Kurukh, Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, Tulu Esperanto Finnic: Cheremis, Estonian, Finnish, Karelian, Lapp (sami), Livonian, Mordvin, Veps, Votyak, Zyrian Germanic: Afrikaans, Danish, Dutch, English (Australia, Canada, USA, UK), Flemish, Frisian, German (Germany, Austria, Switzerland), Icelandic, Norwegian (Bokmal & Nynorsk), Swedish, Yiddish Greek Hamitic: Beja, Berber, Galla, Hausa, Somali, Tuareg Indic: Assamese, Bengali, Bhili, Gujarati, Hindi, Konkani, Marathi, Oriya, Punjabi, Rajasthani, Sindhi, Sinhalese, Urdu Indo-Iranian: Baluchi, Kurdish, Farsi (Persian), Pushtu Japanese Khoisan: Bushman, Hadza, Hottentot, Nama, Sandawe Korean Loglan/Logical Language Malayo-Polynesian/Pacific Island Group: Bahasa, Cebuano, Ilocano, Javanese, Kiriwina, Madurese, Malayan, Maori, Melanesian, Micronesian, Misima, Panay-Hiligaynon, Polynesian, Samar-Leyte, Samoan, Sundanese, Tagalog (Filipino), Taluga Mon-Khmer/Annamite: Cambodian (Khmer), Mon, Vietnamese (Annamese) Mongolic: Khalkha (Mongolian) Niger-Kordofanian/African: Anyi, Ashanti, Azande, Bantu, Bassa, Baule, Bemba, Birom, Bulu, Efik, Ewe, Fang, Fante, Fula, Ganda, Ibo, Igbo, Kikuyu, Kituba, Kongo, Kpele, Kru, Luba, Lunda, Makua, Mande, Mbundu, Mende, More, Mossi, Ngala, Ngbaudi, Nyamwezi-Sukuma, Nyanja, Rundi, Rwanda, Shona,

Sotho, Sukuma, Swahili, Temme, Tiv, Tswana, Twi, Wolof, Xhosa, Yao, Yoruba, Zande, Zulu Nilotic: Bagirmi, Dinka, Fur, Kanembu, Kanuri, Koman, Luo, Maban, Masai, Nuer, Sango, Shilluk, Songhai, Wadai Papuan: Dayak, Negrito, Papu PC-Speak: Based on corp's native language Romantic: Catalan, French (French, Canada), Galician, Italian, Latin, Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil), Provencal, Romanian, Sardinian, Spanish Semitic: Amharic, Arabic, Harari, Hebrew, Neo-Aramaic, Tigré, Tigrinya Sign Language: Hand Jive, American SL, English SL, Japanese SL, Russian SL, Danish SL, French SL, German SL, Norwegian SL, Swedish SL Sino-Tibetan (3): Burmese, Cantonese, Hakka, Hmong, Kashmiri, Lao, Mandarin, Min, Nepali, Shan, Siamese, Thai, Tibetan, Wu, Yueh Slavic: Bulgarian, Balarusian, Czech, Georgian, Macedonian, Polish, Russian, Serbo-Croatian, Slovak, Slovene, Ukrainian Streetslang: 1/2 level when used in a foreign country Turkic: Azerbaijani, Chuvash, Kazakh, Kirghiz, Tatar, Turki, Turkish, Uzbek, Yakut Ugrian: Hungarian (Magyar), Ostyak, Vogul Native American Languages Algonquian: Algonkin, Arapaho, Blackfoot, Cheyenne, Cree, Micmac, Mohican, Obibwa, Shawnee, Wiyot, Yurok [Subarctic Canada, East, South West, Great Plains] Athabascan: Apache, Chipewyan, Navaho [Subarctic Canada, SW] Caddoan: Caddo, Pawnee, Wichita [Great Plains] Haida [NW Coast] Inuit (Eskimo-Aleut) [Arctic coast & Greenland] Iroquoian: Cayuga, Cherokee, Erie, Huron, Iroquois, Mohawk, Onandago, Oneida, Seneca, Tuscarora [East] Macro-Chibchan: Guaymi, Paez, Warao [Central] Mayan: Guatemala, Kekchi, Mam, Quiché-Tzutujil-Cakchique, Yucatan [South and Central America] Muskhogean: Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, Seminole Otomanguean: Mixtec, Otomi, Zapotec [Central America, Mexico] Salishan: Chehalis, Okanagon, Salish [NW Coast] Siouan: Catawba, Crow, Dakota, Hidatsa, Lakota, Omaha, Osage [Great Plains] South American Indian: Arowakan, Aymara, Cariban, Guarani, Mapuche, Quechua, Tupi-Guarani Tlingit [NW Coast] Uto-Aztecan/Shoshonean: Aztec, Comanche, Hopi, Nahuatl, Paiute, Papago [SW], Pima [SW], Shoshoni, Ute [Great Basin, Mexico, Central America]

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MARTIAL ARTS STYLES STYLE BONUSES This is a list of bonuses provided by each martial art, as well as the IP modifier required to learn them. The IP modifier is what you multiply your Earned or General IP by in order to increase the skill, Thus to go to level 1 in a martial art with an IP modifier of 3 would cost 30 points instead of 10, while to go from 5 to 6 would cost 150 points instead of 50. This list is merely a very small sample, intended for beginners, or for GM’s who wish to keep things simple. For a much more expansive and complete list please see The Ultimate Martial Arts list Available at Datafortress 2020. Sample Style Brawling/Melee Martial Art 1 (Offensive) Martial Art 2 (Defensive) Martial Art 3 (Weapon)

IP Mod (1) (2) (2) (2)

Strike/ Cast 3

Punch

Kick

Disarm

Sweep

Block

Dodge

Grapple

Throw

Hold

Choke

Escape

Ram

2 -

3 -

1

1 -

1 2

1 1

1 -

1 -

1 -

1 -

1 -

1 -

STYLE DESCRIPTION Brawling/Melee - This is not really a martial art, it is untrained fighting, included here to show the difference. While it has no IP modifier to learn, it also does not provide any bonuses to maneuvers or damage. Martial Art 1 (Offensive) - This basic martial art is centered around attacking and doing as much damage as possible, with the most emphasis on kicks and punches. This style is indicative of Muay Thai, Tae Kwan Do, and other “Hard” styles. Martial Art 2 (Defensive) - This basic martial art focuses entirely on defense. Its main goal is to avoid being hit and centers around the Block and Dodge maneuvers, as well as disarming your foe. It is indicative of the “Soft” styles, such as Judo and Aikido. Martial Art 3 (Weapon) - This martial art is focused on weapon training, and as such is geared towards both offense and defense with the chosen weapon(s). Examples of similar styles include Kendo, Escrima, and Agrippa. CREATING YOUR OWN MARTIAL ARTS: No martial art has less than a (2) IP modifier. This reflects the physical, mental, and spiritual dedication necessary to learning a martial art. The formula for creating the existing martial arts presented above, and for creating your own new martial arts is: MARTIAL ARTS DIFFICULTY MODIFIERS: DIFFICULTY MODIFIER (2)= 1+1D6 in MArt bonuses DIFFICULTY MODIFIER (3)= 7+1D6 in MArt bonuses DIFFICULTY MODIFIER (4)= 13+1D6 in MArt bonuses DIFFICULTY MODIFIER (5)= 19+1D6 in MArt bonuses

So a martial art with a +4 Kick, a +2 Punch, and a +1 Block would have an IP modifier of 2, while a martial with a Block +5, a Dodge +4, a Sweep +3, a Hold +2, a Grapple +1, and a Throw +1 would have an IP modifier of 6. ATHLETICS AND ENDURANCE: Having skill in Endurance AND Athletics allows you to drop the Difficulty modifier by 1 point (minimum +2 modifier). However this only works as long as your Athletics and Endurance skills are equal or higher than your martial arts skill. If your Martial art skill rises higher than these two skills the difficulty modifier reverts to normal. MULTIPLE MARTIAL ARTS: When reading the rules you may say to yourself, "What's the point, you can only use one at a time anyway, so one offensive and one defensive is all I need, its all I can use anyway right?" Well… kind of. True if you have a 4 in one and a 2 in another you can't add them together to get a 6 when trying to kick someone, but what you can do is take the highest

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value bonus from your various martial arts. Say you have a martial art with a punch of 4 and a block of 1, and you take another martial art with a punch of 2 and a block of 3, you keep the punch of 4 from the first martial art, and use the block of 3 from the second, so you keep the highest bonus given of any martial art you know, though you must use the martial art that provides that bonus. If you already know a Martial Art (including Brawl/Melee) you may reduce the IP modifier of learning a new Martial Art by 1 (minimum of 1) until the new Art reaches the same level as the old. If the new Martial Art has a lower IP modifier than the old one, you may reduce the modifier by 2 (minimum of 1), this effect stacks with the modifier reduction from Athletics and Endurance. DAMAGE: Damage is figured by adding HALF the level of your martial arts skill (only the applicable one) to your BOD damage modifier and the roll of the dice. Unlike actual martial arts, Brawl Melee users do not get a bonus to damage (unless the character has Rampage which gives a bonus equal to the Special Ability level). WEAPONS: Depending on the martial art learned, it also might teach the use of a variety of weapons. Anything with a strike bonus offers weapons training. For every point of Martial Art skill you have (providing it has a strike bonus, or is somehow otherwise tied to a weapon) you may choose 2 melee weapon types to master. Alternatively, you may choose Weapon Master, which only allows for 1 weapon to be learned at every level, but gives you a +1 to your Strike/Cast bonus, or you may choose to be a Weapon Specialist, which limits you to 1 weapon every 2 levels, but provides a +1 to Strike/Cast and a +1 to Block when using a weapon. Using a melee weapon type untrained results in a -3 to hit. WHY TAKE A MARTIAL ART: With all the rules and complications associated with martial arts, you may be asking yourself “why not just take brawling/melee?” The answer is simple, you can just take Brawling/ Melee, but it considered an untrained form of fighting, and as such it provides none of the bonuses to maneuvers that the martial arts do, nor does it provide the full bonus to damage. With Brawling/Melee the only damage to bonus you receive is the one derived from your strength (unless the character has the Savage Role which gives them a bonus equal to their Rampage). Martial Artists add half their level to damage. They spend years training; they know where to hit, and how to hit. They learn how to effectively maneuver their bodies to escape, and to use their opponent’s strength and momentum against them. They train their bodies to instinctively react to situations. Brawlers on the other hand simply swing away. For characters that only fight as a last resort, Brawling/Melee is good to have so they are not completely defenseless, but anytime they go up against someone who has been trained to fight, they are going to be in a world of hurt

NON COMBAT TASK AND SKILL RESOLUTION The use of most skills is fairly self-explanatory, how to implement non-combat skills however, can be somewhat tricky, relying on a great deal of both GM and Player interpretation. To make it just a bit easier, here is a simple table you can use to determine the relative difficulty of any given task. TASK DIFFICULTIES Easy .......................... 10 Average .................... 15 Difficult .................... 20 Very Difficult ........... 25 Nearly Impossible ... 30 Of course the difficulty can be modified by countless conditions. The next table provides a few examples of Task Difficulty Modifiers, and may provide an invaluable resource to GM’s in determining the relative difficulty of any given task. DIFFICULTY MODIFIERS Complex repair ..................................... +2 Very complex repair ............................. +4 "It's never been done before" .............. +6 Don't have the right parts .................... +2 Don't have the right tools ..................... +3 Unfamiliar tools, weapon, vehicle ........ +4 Under stress ....................................…... +3 Under attack ................................... +3 to 4 Wounded ........................................ +2 to 6 Drunk, drugged or tired ....................... +4 Hostile environment .............................. +4 Lack of instructions for task ................ +2 Other characters "kibitzing" ............... +3 Has never performed task before …..... +1 Difficult acrobatics involved ................. +3 Very difficult acrobatics involved …..... +4 Impossible acrobatics involved ............. +5 Information hidden, secret, obscure … +3 Well-hidden clue, door, panel ............... +3 Complex program ................................. +3 Very complex program ......................... +5 Complex lock ........................................ +3 Very complex lock ................................ +5 Target on guard or alerted ................. +3 Brightly lit area .................................... +3 Insufficient light ................................... +3 Pitch blackness ..................................... +4 Secretive task under observation ........ +4 Add LUCK points ........................ -1 to -10 Manipulation with natural claws .….... +3 Cybercontrols ............................….......... -2 Mag-Duct spots & cybercontrols ............ -1 Model 100 plugs & cybercontrols .......... +2 Excellent tools/ equipment .............. -1 to -2 Excellent conditions ....................…. -1 to -2 Rushing the task ............................…..... +2

HOW LONG WILL IT TAKE? Fix simple electronic device or gun .. 5 min Fix complex electronic device ......... 20 min Fix a laser, taser, or maser ............. 10 min Fix a tire .......................................... 5-6 min Fix an engine ..........................…. 10-20 min Rebuild an engine ........................…. 2 days Look for hidden object ................... 2-5 min Open simple mechanical lock ....… 1-2 min Open complex mechanical lock …5-10 min Open simple electronic lock ......... 3-4 min Open complex electronic lock ..... 5-10 min Search a database ...................... 5-20 min Design a computer ..................... 1-3 days Put on a disguise ............................. 3 min Decryption ............................... 100hrs/skill From here a GM and/or Player should be able easily determine the necessary requirements for most tasks and situations that might come up in the course of a game.

Finally this last table gives a small sample of the time it may take to complete any given task.

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PART 4: BREATHING LIFE INTO YOUR CHARACTER LIFEPATH Lifepath is a flowchart of "plot complications", designed to help you give your character an authentic background. Its seven sections cover national and ethnic origins, your family, friends, enemies, personal habits and even key events on a yearly basis. It's intended primarily as a guide; if you encounter something you don't think fits the character you've envisioned feel free to change the path as you see fit. Use the back of your Character Sheet to record your Lifepath. Remember; the game hinges on role-playing, so make use of the information in your Lifepath run. The following is a basic Lifepath, suitable for any setting or genre. For additional Lifepath charts for a specific setting/genre please refer to supplements or products geared towards those lines (Cyberpunk 2020 Ultimate Character Generation available at Datafortress 2020, and other setting specific supplements from R. Talsorian Games). You may also easily create your own.

Origins and Personal Style What do you look like and where do you come from? DRESS & PERSONAL STYLE Roll 1D10 three times (once per column) to decide what your style is. Or simply decide for yourself, Lifepath is a guideline not a rule. Die Clothes Hairstyle Affectations Roll 1 Leather Mohawk Tattoos 2 Casual Long & Ratty Glasses, Goggles or Mask 3 Uniform Short & Spiked Scars 4 Comfortable Wild Gloves 5 Robes or Dresses Bald Nose Rings 6 High Fashion Striped Earrings 7 Armor Tinted Long fingernails 8 Common Attire Neat, short Odd Footwear 9 Nude Short, curly Pendant or Medallion 10 Second Hand Long, straight Rings ETHNIC ORIGINS Where you come from determines your native language, custom and allegiances. In settings that allow for multi-cultural/ethnic backgrounds, in this situation choose one of the Countries and Languages from the main list in the skill section. This is your native language, which you speak at +8. In addition, you also automatically know how to read and write this language, unless the setting, character concept, or GM forbids it. FAMILY BACKGROUND Who are you, and where did you come from? Everybody has a story and past they're trying to live with. What's yours? FAMILY RANKING Choose or roll one: 1 Wealthy Family 2 Middle Class 3 Laborers 4 Wandering Family 5 Sailors or Fishermen 6 Bandits or Outlaws 7 Urban Criminals 8 Peasants 9 Destitute and Homeless 10 Communal Go to PARENTS PARENTS Choose or roll one: 1-6 Both parents are living. Go to FAMILY STATUS 7-10 Something has happened to one or both parents. Go to SOMETHING HAPPENED TO YOUR PARENTS

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SOMETHING HAPPENED TO YOUR PARENTS Choose or roll one: 1 Your parent(s) died in warfare 2 Your parent(s) died in an accident 3 Your parent(s) were murdered 4 Your parent(s) have amnesia and don't remember you 5 You never knew your parent(s) 6 Your parent(s) are in hiding to protect you 7 You were left with relatives for safekeeping 8 You grew up on the Street and never had parents 9 Your parent(s) gave you up for adoption 10 Your parent(s) sold you for money Go to FAMILY STATUS FAMILY STATUS Choose or roll one: 1-6 Family status in danger, and you risk losing everything (if you haven't already). Go to FAMILY TRAGEDY 7-10 Family status is OK, even if parents are missing or dead. Go to CHILDHOOD ENVIRONMENT CHILDHOOD ENVIRONMENT Choose or roll one: 1 Spent on the Street with no adult supervision 2 Spent in a safe middle class area 3 In a Nomadic group wandering from palce to place 4 In a decaying, once upscale neighborhood 5 In a defended area of a the large City 6 In the heart of a ghetto 7 In a small village or town 8 In a large commune 9 In the sea 10 On a farm Go to SIBLINGS FAMILY TRAGEDY Choose or roll one: 1 Family lost everything through betrayal 2 Family lost everything through bad management 3 Family exiled or otherwise driven from their original home 4 Family is imprisoned and you alone escaped 5 Family vanished. You are only remaining member 6 Family was murdered/killed and you were only survivor 7 Family is involved in long term conspiracy, organization or association, such as a crime family or revolutionary group 8 Your family was scattered to the winds due to misfortune 9 Your family is cursed with a hereditary feud that has lasted for generation 10 You are the inheritor of a family debt; you must honor this debt before moving on with your life Go to CHILDHOOD ENVIRONMENT

SIBLINGS You may have up to 7 brothers/sisters. Roll 1D10. 1-7 is equal to the number of siblings you have. On 8-10, you are an only child. For each brother or sister: 1) Roll 1D10. Even: the sibling is male. Odd: the sibling if female. 2) Roll age, relative to yourself 1-5 = older 6-9 = younger 10 = twin For each sibling, choose or roll their feelings about you: 1-2 Sibling dislikes you 3-4 Sibling likes you 5-6 Sibling neutral 7-8 They hero worship you 9-10 They are hate you Go to MOTIVATIONS

MOTIVATIONS AND LIFE EVENTS What makes you tick? Will you back up your friends or go for the main chance? What's important to you? PERSONALITY TRAITS Choose or roll one: 1 Shy and secretive 2 Rebellious, antisocial, violent 3 Arrogant, proud and aloof 4 Moody, rash and headstrong 5 Picky fussy and nervous 6 Stable and serious 7 Silly and fluffheaded 8 Sneaky and deceptive 9 Intellectual and detached 10 Friendly and outgoing

HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT MOST PEOPLE Choose or roll one: 1Neutral 2 3 I like almost everyone 4 I hate almost everyone 5 People are tools. Use them for your own goals and discard them 6 Every person is a valuable individual 7 People are obstacles to be destroyed if they cross me 8 People are untrustworthy. Don't depend on anyone 9 Wipe'em all out and give the place to the cockroaches 10 People are wonderful YOUR MOST VALUED POSSESSION Choose or roll one: 1 A weapon 2 A tool 3 A piece of clothing 4 A photograph 5 A book or diary 6 A recording 7 A musical instrument 8 A piece of jewelry 9 A toy 10 A letter Go to Life Events

PERSON YOU VALUE MOST Choose or roll one: 1 A parent 2 Brother or sister 3 Lover 4 Friend 5 Yourself 6 A pet 7 Teacher or mentor 8 Public figure 9 A personal hero 10 No one WHAT DO YOU VALUE MOST Choose or roll one: 1 Money 2 Honor 3 Your word 4 Honesty 5 Knowledge 6 Vengeance 7 Love 8 Power 9 Having a good time 10 Friendship

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LIFE EVENTS You know where you came from and what you look like. Now let's take a look at the major events that made you what you are. Roll 2D6+16 to determine your character's age, or pick any age 16 or greater. For each year of your character's life past age 16, roll 1D10, check the chart below, and go to that section of the Lifepath. What happens there is the major event that shaped your character's life for that year. When you're done, come on back here and roll the next year's main event. 1-3 Big Problems, Big Wins 4-6 Friends & Enemies 7-8 Romantic Involvement 9-10 Nothing Happened That Year

BIG PROBLEMS BIG WINS Living on the Edge means taking big risks. This year, you took some serious chances. Did it pay off or did you go down in the street? Roll 1D10. On an even roll, you scored big. On an odd roll, you took a hit. DISASTER STRIKES! Roll 1D10: 1 Financial Loss or Debt: Roll 1D10x100. You have lost this much money. If you can't pay this now, you have a debt to pay, in cash - or blood. 2 Imprisonment: You have been in prison, of possibly held hostage (your choice). Roll 1D10 for length of imprisonment in months. 3 Illness or addiction: You have contracted either an illness or drug habit in this time. Lost 1 pt of REF permanently as a result. 4 Betrayal: you have been backstabbed in some manner. Roll another D10. 1-3, you are being blackmailed. 4-7, a secret was exposed- 8-10, you were betrayed by a close friend in either romance or career (you choose). 5 Accident: You were in some kind of terrible accident. Roll 1D10. 1-4, you were terribly disfigured and must subtract -5 from your ATT. 5-6, you were in recovery for 1D10 months that year. 7-8, you have lost 1D10 months of memory of that year. 9-10, you constantly relive nightmares (8 in 10 chance each night) of the accident and wake up screaming. 6 Lover, friend or relative killed: You lost someone you really cared about. 1-5, they died accidentally. 6-8, they were murdered by unknown parties. 9-10, they were murdered and you know who did it. You just need the proof. 7 False Accusation: You were set up. Roll 1D10. 1-3, the accusation is theft. 4-5 it's cowardice. 6-8 it's murder. 9 it's rape. 10, It's lying or betrayal. 8 Hunted by the Law: You are hunted by the law (for crimes you may or may not have committed (your choice). Roll 1D10. 1-3, only one or two police or guards want you. 4-6, it's the entire local authority. 7-8 it's the regional authority. 9-10, you are wanted nation wide. 9 Hunted by a Private Force: You have angered some Militia or Military. Roll 1D10. 1-3, it's a small, local group. 4-6, it's a larger group with influence. 7-8, it's a regional group controlling a wide area. 9-10, it's a national group. 10 Mental or physical incapacitation: You have experienced some type of mental or physical breakdown. Roll 1D10. 13, it's some type of nervous disorder, probably from a disease - lose 1 pt. REF. On 4-7, it's tome kind of mental problem; you suffer anxiety attacks and phobias. Lose 1 pt from your CL stat. 8-10, it's a major psychosis. You hear voices, are violent, irrational, depressive. Lose 1 pt from your CL, 1 from REF. Go To WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO ABOUT IT?

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WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO ABOUT IT? Choose or roll one: 1-2 Clear your name 3-4 Live it down and try to forget it 5-6 Hunt down those responsible and make them pay! 7-8 Get what's rightfully yours 9-10 Save, if possible, anyone else involved in the situation Go back to LIFE EVENTS AND ROLL THE NEXT YEAR YOU GET LUCKY! Roll 1D10: 1 Make a Powerful Connection in City Government. Roll 1D10. 1-4, it's with Law Enforcement 5-7, it’s with the Prosecutors. 8-10, it's with the Mayor's Office. 2 Financial Windfall: Roll 1D10x100 for monetary amount. 3 Big Score on job or deal! Roll 1D10x100 for monetary amount. 4 Find a Sensei (teacher). Begin at +2 or add +1 to a Martial Arts Skill of your choice. 5 Find a Teacher: Add +1 to any INT based skill, or begin a new INT based skill at +2. 6 Powerful Merchant or Bureaucrat owes you one favor. 7 Local Nomadic Group befriends you. You can call upon them for one favor a month, equivalent to a Family Special Ability of +2. 8 Make a Friend on the Police or Guard Force. You may use him for inside information at a level of +2 Streetwise on any police related situation. 9 Local criminal organization likes you. You can call upon them for 1 favor a month, equivalent to a Family Special Ability of +2. But don't push it. 10 Find a Combat Teacher. Add +1 to any weapon skill with the exception of Martial Arts or Brawling, or begin a new combat skill at +2. Go back to LIFE EVENTS AND ROLL THE NEXT YEAR

FRIENDS AND ENEMIES Living on the Edge means you don't do things halfway. Your friends are tight, and your enemies ruthless. If you're here, it's because your social life took a major turn (for the worse?) this year. Roll 1D10. On a 1-5, you made a friend. On a 6-10, you made an enemy. MAKE AN ENEMY You've gotten in someone's face. Enemies are a way of life, so don't skip this step. For each enemy, choose or Roll sex on 1D10. EVEN = Male ODD = Female This enemy is (choose or roll One): 1 Ex friend 2 Ex lover 3 Relative 4 Childhood enemy 5 Person working for you 6 Person you work for 7 Partner or co-worker 8 Booster gang member 9 Corporate Exec 10 Government Official Go to THE CAUSE THE CAUSE This enmity started when one of you (choose or roll one): 1 Caused the other to lose face or status 2 Caused the loss of a lover, friend or relative 3 Caused a major humiliation 4 Accused the other of cowardice or some other personal flaw 5 Caused a physical disability: (Roll 1D6. 1=2 lose eye. 34=lose arm. 5-6=badly scarred) 6 Deserted or betrayed the other 7 Turned down other's offer of job or romantic involvement 8 You just didn't like each other 9 Was a romantic rival 10 Foiled a plan of the other's Go to WHO'S MAD WHO'S MAD? Choose or roll one: 1-4 They hate you 5-7 You hate them 8-10 The feeling's mutual Go to WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO...

WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO ABOUT IT? If the two of you met face to face, the injured party would most likely (Choose or roll one): 1-2 Go into a murderous killing rage and rip his face off! 3-4 Avoid the scum 5-6 Backstab him indirectly 7-8 Ignore the scum 9-10 Rip into him verbally Go to WHAT CAN HE... WHAT CAN HE THROW AGAINST YOU? What kind of forces can your enemy put on the table to stop you? (Choose or roll one): 1-3 Just himself 4-5 Himself and a few friends 6-7 An entire Gang 8 A small Corporation 9 A large Corporation 10 An entire Government Agency Go back to LIFE EVENTS AND ROLL THE NEXT YEAR Who is this person? Move over to Personal Style and Motivations and make a few rolls to find out what your friend or enemy is like. MAKE A FRIEND You lucked out and made a new friend (a rare occurrence In the Cyberpunk world). For each new friend, choose or roll sex on 1D10: EVEN = Male ODD = Female Choose or roll your relationship to this friend: 1 Like a big brother/sister to you 2 Like a kid sister/brother to you 3 A teacher or mentor 4 A partner or co-worker 5 An old lover (choose which one) 6 An old enemy (choose which one) 7 Like a foster parent to you 8 A relative 9 Reconnect with an old childhood friend 10 Met through a common interest

Go back to LIFE EVENTS AND ROLL THE NEXT YEAR Who is this person? Move over to Personal Style and Motivations and make a few rolls to find out what your friend or enemy is like.

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Romantic Life There's more to life than just combat and bad breaks. Romance is also part of living on the Edge. If you're here, romantic action was your major event this year. Start with HOW IT WORKED OUT: HOW IT WORKED OUT Roll one, then go to that section: 1-4 5 6-7 8-9 10

HAPPY LOVE AFFAIR (go back to LIFE EVENTS) TRAGIC LOVE AFFAIR LOVE AFFAIR WITH PROBLEMS FAST AFFAIRS AND HOT DATES (Go back to LIFE EVENTS) COMPLICATED LOVE AFFAIR

LOVE AFFAIR WITH PROBLEMS Choose or roll one: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Your lover's friends/family hate you Lover's friends/family use any means to get rid of you Your friends/family hate your lover One of you has a romantic rival You are separated in some way You fight constantly You're professional rivals One of you is insanely jealous One of you is "messing around" You have conflicting backgrounds and families

Go back to LIFE EVENTS AND ROLL FOR NEXT YEAR TRAGIC LOVE AFFAIR Choose or roll one: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Lover died in accident Lover mysteriously vanished It didn't work out A personal goal or vendetta came between you Lover kidnapped Lover went insane Lover committed suicide Lover killed in a fight Rival cut you out of the action Lover imprisoned or exiled

Go To MUTUAL FEELINGS COMPLICATED LOVE AFFAIR Choose or roll one: 1-2 3 4 5-7 8 9 10

Someone got preg and now you have a kid Your old lover just secretly showed up Their old Lover just secretly showed up One of you had a kid in the past , they just showed up You have a terrible secret you’re hiding from them An old enemy of yours just showed up An old enemy of theirs just showed up

Go To MUTUAL FEELINGS MUTUAL FEELINGS Choose or roll one: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

They still love you You still love them You still love each other You hate them They hate you You hate each other You're friends No feeling's either way; it's over You like them, they hate you They like you, you hate them

Go back to LIFE EVENTS AND ROLL FOR NEXT YEAR Was it worth the pain? Move over to the Personal Style and Motivations Sections and make a few rolls to find out what your lover was like and whether you'd do it all over again if he/she walked back into your life.

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MISCELLANEOUS CHARACTER CREATION RULES These are optional rules; their inclusion is at GM discretion.

Innate Abilities Characters may possess natural traits that make them just a bit special. Luck can be used to modify the die roll. Ambidexterity: to determine whether a character is Ambidextrous or not, roll above an 80% on a percentage roll. An Ambidextrous character can use both hands with equal proficiency, and takes no penalty for doing so. It also allows the character to take an extra 20 skill points (usable only on TECH or REF skills) during character generation. Eidetic Memory: to determine if a character has a photographic memory roll above a 90% on a percentage roll. A character with Eidetic Memory has a 20% chance to recall anything he has seen, heard, or read. It also allows the character to take an extra 20 skill points (INT skills only) during character generation. Eidetic Reflexes: (the ability to copy any physical act once it has been observed) roll above a 99% on a percentage roll. A character with Eidetic Reflexes can learn Martial Arts, Dance, or Brawl/ Melee as though they were one level lower (IE: he can raise a skill from 5 to 6 by only paying the cost required to raise it from 4 to 5.) Double Jointed: roll above 80% (plus 4% for every point of BOD over 5) on a percentage roll. A Double Jointed character gets an automatic +4 to all Grapple, Hold, and Escape attempts, they may also fit themselves into places considered too small for normal humans, within reason. Bloodlust: Roll above 50% (plus 5% for every point of EMP). This allows a character a -4 to their Stun Save (but not death save) to remain conscious, and treats wounds as –4 for the purpose of determining effects from damage (if the character takes 9 points of damage, putting him in critical condition, he will fight as though he has only taken 5 points and is instead in serious). This effect lasts for a number of rounds equal to the characters Endurance Skill level x2, When the Bloodlust comes to an end the character must make a stun save at +4 in addition to whatever modifiers he has accrued due to damage..

Age Playing characters that are younger or older than the norm is possible. A characters age will affect him in a great many ways. A younger Character won’t have learned as much as an older one. An elderly character won’t be as strong or fast as he was when he was 20. To compensate for this refer to the following: A. For every 2 years before the age of 16, subtract 1 point from the following Stats: BOD, REF, MA, TECH, and COOL (for characters older than 4 years old, these cannot drop below a 3). Further more, characters under the age of 16 can add +1 to their EMP (no higher than 10). Also, characters under the age of 16 will earn twice the IP for their skills, but will have -5 points for their starting skills for every year under the age of 16. B. For every 10 years over the age of 40, a character will lose 1 point off their BOD, REF, MA, and ATTR skills. However, as a character becomes older he learns more, and becomes wiser. Generating characters at the age of 20+, and every 10 years above receive an extra 10 IP to startup skills. C. Skills degrade without practice. If a skill is not applied at least once every year of game time, it will begin to drop in levels by one point for every 6 months of in-game time it goes unpracticed.

PART 5: GETTING STARTED STARTING FUNDS So how much do you start with? Well, that depends on your job. How good a job you currently have is based on the level of your Special Ability. For example, an Instigator with a Charismatic Leadership of 2 isn't going to draw crowds like Martin Luther King. This means he'll be reduced to speaking his mind wherever he can get an audience; small churches, bar-mitzvahs, weddings, bar fights, street corners; you name it. Take a quick jump to the Occupation Table. Find your Primary Role (or the role closest to it), cross-reference it to your current Special Ability level, and that'll give you a monthly salary. For characters with more than one Role, only their Primary is counted. Multiply this amount by a 1D6/3 to determine the number of months you've currently been employed, and that gives you the total monetary amount your character starts with. This occupation table represents a modern age, American or European setting and is measured in dollars. Other settings and locations may be vastly different. For example, in a Pulp Setting with a stable economy, divide the amounts by 5, in a similar Old West setting divide by 10, in a setting prior to that divide by 100. Space settings may use a vastly different form of commerce, as such it is up to the GM’s discretion, but it should be indicative of the society players find themselves in (in other words don’t limit your characters to next to nothing while everyone around them is outfitted to the hilt). In a pre-historic or savage society, there is no concept of money though trade is probably present in some form. Also the form of currency is going to change according to setting and genre. Gold pieces are the standard for anything up to an Old Western setting, afterwards becomes dollars, Euros, Eurobucks, or whatever the standard world currency may be. Exactly how you earn your money is up to you; the categories are deliberately vague to give you plenty of role-playing room. Maybe as a "Level 7" Solo, you don' t want to work for a military; no problem. It's only a general description of where you fit on the Solo hierarchy. For all we know, you work on an extraction team for Amnesty International or maybe you are the personal bodyguard of an important Nobleman. The Occupation table is for beginning characters, and represents a baseline of what the characters have been able to save, after play begins the characters are generally expected to negotiate their own wages and salaries. One last thing. Roll one more D6. If you roll higher than a four, you just got unemployed. Congratulations. OCCUPATION TABLE ROLE ANIMAL EMPATH ARTISTE

1-5 800 / MONTH

6 1600 / MONTH

SPECIAL ABILITY LEVEL 7 8 2400 / MONTH 6000 / MONTH

400 / MONTH

1000 / MONTH

2000 / MONTH

5000 / MONTH

ATHLETE

700 / MONTH

1400 / M ONTH

2800 / MONTH

6000 / MONTH

BOUNTY DOG

1200/ MONTH

1500 / MONTH

1800 / MONTH

3500 / MONTH

CORPORATE

1000 / MONTH

2000 / MONTH

4000 /MONTH

6000 / MONTH

COP EDUCATOR FIXER

900 / MONTH 700 / MONTH 1500 / MONTH

1200 / MONTH 1000 / MONTH 2000 / MONTH

1500 / MONTH 1300 / MONTH 3000 / MONTH

2000 / MONTH 1500 / MONTH 6000 / MONTH

10,000 / MONTH 3000 / MONTH 2000 / MONTH 9000 / MONTH

GRIFTER INFILTRATOR

1000 / MONTH 1100 / MONTH

1200 / MONTH 1600 / MONTH

1800 / MONTH 2000 / MONTH

3000 / MONTH 5000 / MONTH

6000 / MONTH 8000 / MONTH

INSTIGATOR

400 / MONTH

1000 / MONTH

1800 / MONTH

3500 / MONTH

8000 / MONTH

INVESTIGATOR MUNDIE MEDIA MEDTECH

1000 / MONTH 500 / MONTH 900 / MONTH 1200 / MONTH

1400 / MONTH 800 / MONTH 1500 / MONTH 1800 / MONTH

1900 / MONTH 1200 /MONTH 2000 / MONTH 25000 / MONTH

2500 / MONTH 1600 / MONTH 2800 MONTH 3000 / MONTH

3500 / MONTH 2000 / MONTH 5000 / MONTH 6000 / MONTH

NETRUNNER NOMAD RUNNER SAVAGE SCOUT SHADOW

1000 / MONTH 600 / MONTH 700 / MONTH 200 / MONTH 900 / MONTH 1800 / MONTH

2000 / MONTH 800 / MONTH 1500 / MONTH 400 / MONTH 1200 / MONTH 2300 / MONTH

3000 / MONTH 1100 / MONTH 2000 / MONTH 800 / MONTH 1700 / MONTH 3000 / MONTH

5000 / MONTH 1300 / MONTH 3500 / MONTH 1200 / MONTH 2000 / MONTH 4000 / MONTH

7000 / MONTH 1800 / MONTH 5000 / MONTH 3000 / MONTH 4000 / MONTH 6000 / MONTH

SOLO TECHIE VAMP

800 / MONTH 700 / MONTH 1400 /MONTH

1300 / MONTH 1000 / MONTH 2000 / MONTH

2000 / MONTH 1500 / MONTH 3000 / MONTH

3000 / MONTH 2000 / MONTH 4000 / MONTH

5000 / MONTH 3500 / MONTH 5000 / MONTH

9 9,000 / MONTH 10, 000 / MONTH 11,000 / MONTH 7000 MONTH

10 11,000 / MONTH 15,000 / MONTH 17,000 / MONTH 10,000 / MONTH 16,000 / MONTH 5000 / MONTH 4000 / MONTH 12,000 / MONTH 9000 / MONTH 10,000 / MONTH 16,000 / MONTH 7000 / MONTH 3000 / MONTH 8000 / MONTH 12,000 / MONTH 9,000 / MONTH 2800 / MONTH 8000 / MONTH 7000 / MONTH 6000 / MONTH 11,000 / MONTH 8,000 / MONTH 7000 / MONTH 6000 / MONTH

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PART 6 WEAPONS AND ARMOR The first thing your characters are going to want to do is get themselves outfitted with weapons and equipment.

Weapons break into seven types: Pistols (P) are any type of single shot (or semiautomatic) weapon that may be accurately fired with one hand. Submachineguns (SMG) are any type of weapon that may fire either automatically or semi automatically, using only pistol ammunition. Shotguns (SHG) are any weapon that fires pellets or other small particles instead of a solid slug. Rifles (RIF) include assault rifles, carbines, and fully automatic rifles. These weapons always fire rifle type ammunition. Heavy Weapons (HVY) include missiles, grenades, heavy cannon, etc. Melee Weapons (MELEE) include swords, daggers, knives, martial arts weapons, polearms, etc. Exotic Weapons (EX) these are lasers, flechette pistols, airguns and microwave weapons - the real "sci-fi" weapons. Bows and Crossbows, as well as slings and other odd weapons types fall under this category as well.

Weapon Codes: Each weapon is represented by certain characteristics, such as its type, damage, range, accuracy, concealability, availability and cost. These factors are recorded as a weapon code - a profile of the weapon in order of: Name · Type · Accuracy · Concealability · Availability · Damage/Ammunition · Number of Shots · Rate of Fire · Reliability For an example, a weapon with the code: Minami 10 - SMG - 0 - J - E - 2D6+3 (10mm) - 40 - 20 - VR would be a Minami 10 Submachinegun (SMG) of average Accuracy (0) which can be hidden under a jacket (J), with excellent availability (E), fires 10mm ammunition, has a 40 shot magazine, can fire up to 20 rounds per combat round on full auto, and is very reliable. Descriptions of Weapon Codes follow: Accuracy: This is how good the weapon really is. Weapons are rated from -3 to +3 on accuracy, with 0 being an average level of accuracy. Concealability: How easily they can be hidden until needed (an important factor in combat weapons). A smart combat gunner doesn't want to walk into a bar with a shotgun protruding from underneath his coat - it's going to cause trouble. He also needs to be able to carry "holdouts" in the event of capture or disarmament. Pocket, Pants Leg or Sleeve (P) Jacket, Coat or Shoulder Rig (J) Long Coat (L) Can't be Hidden (N)

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Availability: This is how difficult the weapon is to find on the open market. This will often vary wildly depending on setting and genre. Excellent (E) Can be found almost anywhere. Common (C) Can be found in most sports & gun stores or on the Street. Poor (P) Specialty weapons, black market, stolen military. Rare (R) Stolen, one of a kind, special military issue, may be highly illegal. Damage: This is the amount of damage a weapon does, measured in the number of dice, either 6-sided (D6) or 10-sided (D10) die. Example: if a weapon damage is 2d6, you roll 2 six sided die. Number of Shots: This is how many shots are held in the standard clip, magazine or cylinder for the weapon type. . Rate of Fire: This is how many shots the weapon can fire in a single combat round by holding down the trigger (3.3 seconds). Weapons with multiple modes of fire such as single shot, 3-round burst, and full auto, will have this broken up like this 1/3/20. Reliability: This is how reliable the weapon is in combat - its chance of jamming while on autofire, etc. Unreliable (UR) Standard (ST) Very Reliable (VR) MELEE WEAPON RULES Melee weapons are assumed to be of standard quality, however you can upgrade or degrade the quality. A weapon with a quality of 1 is 1/5th the price listed. A weapon with a quality rating of 2 drops the weapon price by ½. A weapon with a quality rating of 3 is standard. A weapon with a quality rating of 4 raises the weapon price x3 A weapon with a quality rating of 5 raises the weapon price x10 (Certain weapons, especially improvised ones such as most glass bottles have a quality rating of zero and break upon impact) All hafted weapons can also do damage as a Jo or Bo staff, depending on length. Weapon Pommels can be used to make bludgeoning attacks and do 1/2 D6 damage. Improvised weapons are to be compared to the above list using common sense to figure out what would be the best category of comparison for the improvised weapon. For really odd bludgeoning weapons, damage is figured at ½ d6 for every 2 lbs. of weapon weight. You can throw any weapon, but throwing any weapon not specifically designed for it results in a -2 to hit.

MELEE WEAPON OPTIONS Jagged, spikey, edges add +3 damage to bladed weapons, cost an extra 20% of weapon cost. Spikes add +3 damage to any bludgeon weapon. Spiked or jagged edge weapons remove an extra point of SP to soft armor, regardless of whether the attack does damage equal to 50% of the SP value. Attacks that do penetrate lose an additional point of SP for every penetration increment. Mono-Blades add 1d6 to damage of bladed weapons, weapon cost x5, drop quality down to 1, if orbital crystal is used cost is x7 and quality only drops to 2. For x10 weapon cost you can have only the edge of a bladed weapon covered with Mono-Crystal, even if the mono-edge shatters the weapon will still have a working blade. Using this method only the actual edge of the blade suffers a quality loss. (This can be done to any bladed weapon; orbital crystal can be used for x15 the cost of the weapon). This option is only available in near future and beyond settings. The damage from a mono blade comes from its sharpness, as such a monoblade will allow its user to increase his base damage limit by 1d6 (up to weapons max damage) for the purposes determining maximum damage for quick, normal and full actions. For example, a MonoKatana does 4d6 damage, normally a normal action limit for damage is 2d6, with a mono blade the weapon will do 3d6. For every 50 years of age of the weapon, add $100 to the price. If a known Mastersmith created the weapon, add $1,000 to price, and improve weapon quality by one rank. You can do this up till you achieve Masterwork quality.

LIGHT KNIVES = 1D6 Damage, general cost of $50 Combat knife, Hunting knife, Butcher knife, Tanto, Bowie, Dagger, Large Throwing Knife, Large Kris LIGHT SWORD = 2D6 Damage, general cost of $100 European Short Sword, Tai Chi Sword, Wakizashi, Daab, Machete, Kuhkri, Ninja-to, Gladius, Large Survival Knife, Large Bowie, Butterfly knife, Chinese War Sword, Epee', Foil, Barong, Sword Cane, MEDIUM SWORD = 3D6 Damage, general cost of $200 Katana, Broadsword, Dao, Chinese Hook Sword, Tachi, Cavalry Saber, Scimitar, Cutlass, Longsword, Rapier, Shamshir, Small Scimitar, HEAVY SWORD = 4D6 Damage, General cost of $300 Claymore, Zweihander, No-Dachi, Bastard Sword, Greatsword, Flamberge, Executioners Sword, Large Scimitar, UlLTRALIGHT THROWN WEAPON = 1 point Damage, general cost of $5 Bar Dart, Shuriken, Asian Throwing Spike, Hyo, EXTRALIGHT THROWN WEAPON = 1/2 d6 Damage, general cost of $10

A knuckle guard (+$25) or handbasket (50eb SP:6) can be added to any melee weapon, protecting the hand and allowing for 1D6 bludgeon damage.

Small Throwing Knife, Heavy Shuriken, Boot knife, Bowie Knife,

You can add 10% extra weight to the end of a weapon for an additional 20% of the weapon cost. This gives an additional 1 point of damage for every weight increase up to a maximum of 5.

LIGHT THROWN WEAPON = 1D6 Damage, general cost of $20 Heavy Throwing Knife, Tomahawk, Throwing Ax, Chakram,

Custom Engraving, precious metal inlay, gem setting, and special material handles (such as bone or ivory) are possible, at a steep fee (determined by GM)

MEDIUM THROWN WEAPON = 2D6 Damage, General cost of $40

Many weapons can be used to entangle, Hook swords, tonfa, Jitte's, whips, chains.... even a towel. Weapons such as these provide a +1 to grapple, hold, and choke check To make the life of GM's far easier, here is an extensive list of melee weapons. However, with this list the weapons will be classed by type. So as opposed to having stats for each and every weapon, it will merely be giving damage based of the general type of groups of weapons, along with rules for customization, options, and quality, and all the things that that entails. Hopefully the following lists, while not complete by any means, will give you enough to place any other weapons you might be curious about.

Heavy Throwing Axe, Mongwanga, Spear, Javelin, Lawn Dart LIGHT AXE = 1D6 Damage, general cost of $20 Hatchet, Tomahawk, Hand Axe, Hunga Munga, Kama MEDIUM AXE = 2D6 Damage, general cost of $40 Mongwanga, Battleaxe, Woodsmans Axe, Splitting Axe, Carvers Axe, HEAVY AXE = 3D6 Damage, general cost of $60

1. BLADED WEAPONS UlLTRALIGHT KNIVES = 1 point of Damage, general cost $10

Great Axe, Executioners Axe, Double Bit Axe

Pocket Knives, Scalpels, Pen Knives, Boxcutters, Knitting Needle, Ice Pick

LIGHT POLEARMS = 3D6 Damage, general cost of $50 Spear, Hook Spear, Imperial Polearm, Asegai, Boar Spear, Samburu Spear, Zulu Spear, Native American Spear, Wu Cha

EXTRA LIGHT KNIVES = 1/2 D6 Damage, general cost of $25 Steak Knife, Balisong, Fillet Knife, Small Throwing knife, Boot Knife, Stilleto, Small Kris, Push Knife, Folding Knife, Dirk, Bagh Nahks, Teko, Ashiko,

HEAVY POLEARMS = 4D6 Damage, general cost of $100 Naginata, Kwan-Do, Lance, Halberd, Poleaxe, Yari

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2. BLUDGEONING WEAPONS

Throwing Weapons

ULTRALIGHT BLUDGEONING = 1D6 Damage, general cost of $0-30

These weapons use the character’s Martial Arts (+Cast bonus), or Brawling/Melee Skill. Thrown objects may not be larger than 2 yards square and can only be thrown as far as allowed by the strength of the thrower:

Short club, sap, Escrima Stick, Brass Knuckles, Weighted Gloves, LIGHT BLUDGEONING = 2D6 Damage, general cost of $50 Tonfa, Club, Cudgel, Cane, Nightstick, Small Mace, Baton, JoStaff, Sai, Jitte, Hanbo MEDIUM BLUDGEONING = 3D6 Damage, general cost of $25-75 Baseball bat, Nunchaku, Flail, Mace, Bo-Staff, Large Club, Heavy Pommeled Cane, HEAVY BLUDGEONING = 4D6 Damage, general cost of $100 Heavy Mace, Heavy Flail, Great Club, 3 Sectional Staff, 3. FLEXIBLE WEAPONS LIGHT FLEXIBLE WEAPON = 1/2 D6 Damage, general cost of $30 Riding Crop, Kangaroo Rat, Switch Whip, Bamboo Whip, Weighted Sleeve or Sash, MEDIUM FLEXIBLE WEAPON = 1d6 Damage, general cost of $50 Short Bullwhip, Cat-O-nine-tails, Bicycle chain, HEAVY FLEXIBLE WEAPON = 2d6 Damage, general cost of $100 Bullwhip, Heavy Chain, Manrikigusari, Jie Jui Ban, Monowhip

MELEE WEAPON QUALITY 0

Fragile, breaks on any fumble, 50% chance of breaking during use.

1

Cheap, breaks on a roll of 4 or lesson a 1D10 after any fumble

2

Poor Quality-breaks on 2 or less on a 1d10 after a fumble

3

Standard Quality, hard to damage, breaks only on a critical fumble

4

High Quality, long lasting, can take abuse, military quality tool, almost impossible to damage without specifically intending to.

5

Masterwork Quality, even trying, it is near impossible to damage. Only the finest weapons can achieve this.

A Poor quality weapon suffers a -1 to Accuracy and a Cheap quality weapon receives a -2 to Accuracy due to inferior construction and balance. A High quality weapon receives a +1 and a Masterwork quality weapon receives a +2 to accuracy due to superior craftsmanship and balance.

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BODY TYPE MAX DISTANCE 1-3 10 yards 4-5 20 yards 6-7 40 yards 8-9 60 yards 10-11 80 yards 12-13 100 yards 14-15 120 yards Values shown above are for baseball-sized objects weighing no more than 1kg. For every additional kilogram, subtract 2 from the Body Type score used to calculate throwing distance. This chart is also used for grenades, which use the Athletics skill in place of Martial Arts or Brawl/Melee. 5% can be added to distance per point of Strength Feat.

FIREARMS Damage/Ammunition: For modern firearms each weapon is rated as to the type of ammunition it carries, and the damage of that ammunition (in Dice Increments). In settings from Late Old West and beyond, Weapon damage is based on ammunition type of the weapon. The Chart below details the most common types of modern ammunition and the damage related to them. Cost is per box of 50 cartridges. Ammo Type DAMAGE Cost Notes 5mm .25 ACP .22 Long Rifle 6mm 7mm .38 9mm .41 CL .45 Cal ACP 10mm Militech 88 ISTS .338 .357 Magnum .45ACP .400 Cor-Bon .40S&W 11mm CA 10.4mm .408 Magnum .41 Magnum 12mm .44 Magnum .454 Casull .50AE (12.7mm) .44 Cor-Bon Magnum .525 Magnum Express .577 Boomer Magnums 14mm Malorian Short RIFLE AMMO 4.5mm Liquid Prop 5.5mm Chinese 5.56mm NATO 5.54mm PACT 5.7mm Caseless 6mm Caseless 7mm Fed. Caseless .30-06 7mm Can Long 7.62mm Sov Short 7.62mm Sov Long 7.62mm NATO Long 6.5CL Hybrid 9mm CL Long Arasaka 10mm Rifle .300 Winchester Mag. 12.7mm /.50 BMG 20mm Reduced 14.5mm 15mm BMG 15mm Kurz 20mm 30mm SHOTGUN AMMO .20 Gauge

1d6 1d6+1 1d6 1d6+1 1d6+2 1d6+2 2d6+1 2d6+1 2D6+2 2d6+3 3d6 3d6 3d6+1 2d6+2 3d6 2d6+3 3d6 3d6+3 3d6+2 3d6+2 4d6+1 4d6 4d6+3 4d6+2 4d6+3 5d6 5d6AP 6d6

5 7 6 8 9 10 12 14 15 16 20 17 18 18 22 18 20 35 25 24 30 35 40 42 55 55 60 70

4d6 4d6+2 5d6 5d6 3d6 5d6 5d6 6D6 6d6-2 5d6+2 6d6 6d6+2 6d6-1 2d6+4 8d6 7d6+3 6d10 4d10 7d10 7d10 4d10+3 8d10 10d10 * 3d6/2d6/1d6

50 40 35 40 25 40 30 25 40 45 50 65 50 20 80 100 100 75 100 110 150 200 500

.12 Gauge .10 Guage

4d6/3d6/2d6 5d6/4d6/3d*

40 50

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For periods before the late 1800’s, when science had escalated to the assembly line and exact uniform measurements for manufacturing of weapons and ammunition, it is advised that you use a simpler scale, based off the RELATIVE size of the firearm and its ammunition. This chart is as follows: For far flung future settings, a similar chart can be used, modifying the dice value as the setting or GM requires. (Simplest solution is adding 1d6 to each category) Light 1d6

Pistols Medium 2d6

Heavy 3d6

Light 2d6

RIFLES Medium 3d6

Heavy 4d6

Sample Firearms Weapon Flintlock Pistol* Musket* Blunderbuss* 8.8mm Necked-Down 10mm

Necked-Down .45ACP

Necked-Down 11mm round

Desert Eagle & Jericho load Necked-Down .50AE round

Available in KTW & Explosive Available in EHI Available in EHI *indicates damage at close, medium, and long ranges

1500 -1800 Type Acc. Conc. Avail. Pist -3 J P Rif -2 N P SHT +2/-3 L P 1800 - 1900 Type Acc. Conc. Avail. Pist -2 P P Pist -1 J E Pist -1 L C

Weapon Derringer ** Peacemaker*** Navy Dragoon ***# Winchester Rifle Rif **** Double Barrel 12- SHT gauge** Weapon Colt 1911A1 Walther P-38 Police Special (revolver) Thompson Sub machinegun M-1 Garand 12-Gauge Pump ****

Damage Shots ROF Rel. 1D6 1 1 UR 2D6 1 1 ST 5D6/3D6/1D6 1 1 UR Damage Shots ROF Rel. 1D6 (.22 cal) 2 1 UR 2D6+2 (.45 cal) 6 1 VR 2d6+2 (.44 cal) 5 1 ST

+1

N

E

2D6+2 (.45 cal)

8

1

VR

+2/0

N

E

4D6/3D6/2D6 (12 ga.)

2

1/2

VR

1900 – 1960 Type Acc. Conc. Avail. Damage Shots ROF Rel. Pist 0 J E 2D6+2 (.45 cal) 7 1 VR Pist +2 J C 2D6+1 (9mm) 8 1 ST Pist +2 J E 1D6+2 (.38) 6 1 VR SMG

-1

Rif +2 SHT +2/+1

L

C

N N

E E

2D6+2 (.45 cal) 20

1/20

ST

6D6 (.30-06) 8 1 VR 4d6/3d6/2d6 7 1 VR (12 ga.) 1960 - PRESENT Weapon Type Acc. Conc. Avail. Damage Shots ROF Rel. Baretta M-92 Pist +1 J E 2D6+1 (.9mm) 15 1 VR Smith & Wesson Pist +2 L C 4D6 (.44 mag) 6 1 VR M-29 (revolver) UZI SMG +1 L C 2D6+1 (9mm) 30 1/3/25 ST M-16 Rif +2 N C 5D6 (5.56mm) 30 1/3/25 ST Franchi-Spas -12 SHT +3/+2 N P 4D6/3D6/2D6 8 1 VR **** (.12 gauge) Near Future Weapon Type Acc. Conc. Avail. Damage Shots ROF Rel. Armalite .44 Pist 0 J E 4D6+1 (12mm) 8 1 ST FN-RAL Rif -1 N C 6D6+2 30 30 ST (7.62mm) Far Future Weapon Type Acc. Conc. Avail. Damage Shots ROF Rel. Blaster Pistol Pist 0 J E 3D6 50 1 VR Blaster Rifle Rif +2 N E 5D6 100 1/3/10 ST *Flintlock/Muzzle Load weapons take 15 rounds / -1 round per point of Weapon Skill to reload **Dual or multiple barrel weapons take 1 round to reload per 2 barrels *** Single action revolvers take 2 rounds to reload and take 2 Quick Actions to fire, though “fanning the hammer” allows for x2 Quick Action attacks at a –2 to hit (some revolvers have removable cylinders or speedloaders, allowing for reloads in 1 round ***# Cap and ball weapons take double the time to reload as normal bullets **** Tube fed weapons take 2 rounds to reload per 8 shots (round up)

For a far more detailed look at the firearms of antiquity and the far future, including detailed Stats, 3G3’s Guns, Guns, Guns, is an excellent resource, and more than capable of fulfilling your needs, especially in conjunction with the rules as given here. For modern weapons, R. Talsorian’s Edge of The Sword: Compendium of Modern Firearms is recommended. Both books have stats for Interlock.

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Armor This is the next most important purchase for the well-dressed character. Each armor has an Encumbrance Value (EV) which is subtracted from your character's REF, and a Stopping Power (SP), which refers to the ability of the armor to stop damage. The Stopping Power is subtracted from the amount of damage done by the hit. Armor includes: Standard Armor Heavy leather (Jacket or Pants) Chain Mail (Shirt or Pants) Banded Mail (shirt or pants) Half Plate (armor plates added to leather or chain shirt or jacket) Full Pate (includes helmet and gauntlets, Covers from head to toe) Hide Shield (Leather stretched across sticks) Wooden Shield Steel Shield Leather Helmet Steel Helmet

Material Weights Per Clothing Type SP: 4 SP: 10 SP: 8 SP: 12 SP: 15 SP: 4 SP: 8 SP: 15 SP: 4 SP: 15

Modern Armor Kevlar T-Shirt/Vest SP=10 Kevlar Armor Jacket SP: 14 (Lt), 18 (Med) or 20 (Hvy) Personal protection for the fashion conscious, these lightweight Kevlar jackets have nylon coverings that resemble normal jackets. Helmet SP: 14 (Steel) or 20 (Nylon) Flack Vest/Pants SP: 20 Doorgunner's Vest SP: 25 MetalGear™ SP: 25 Laminated Epoxide plate armor. Bulky and designed in modular sections, with helmet, arm & leg coverings, torso and back clamshell. As with weapons, by spending more money you can increase the quality of any armor. Spending x2 the cost removes +1 point of EV, x4 removes 2 points, and x6 removes 3 points. ARMORED CLOTHING, LAYERS, & ENCUMBRANCE Humans can only wear so many layers of differing thicknesses of clothing without being so stiff that they can't move. Penalties are assessed for the Torso and Legs; your torso including arms and head (as both need considerable leeway to move freely). Layers are not interchangeable! (i.e. 2x Lights do not equal a Heavy!) Also, EV penalties from over-layering are in addition to those for armoring clothing. Layering: Torso: 1 layer Light clothing, 1 layer Heavy clothing. Legs: 1 layer Medium or Heavy clothing.

Type: Light Medium Heavy

Penalties for extra layers: Extra Torso Layer Extra Leg Layer -1EV -1EV -3EV -2EV -4EV -3EV

When wearing body armor, add up the total of EV's (listed in the Armor Table), and subtract this from your character's REF Stat

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Natural: Anything that provides natural protection, such as the cybernetic options Skinweave or Subdermal Armor, or magical or Psionic effects that provide a natural armor bonus, do NOT count as a layer. Light: Shirts, scarves, bandannas, dresses, jumpsuits, gloves, hats, ties, sweaters, thin skirts, shades. Medium: Pants, cloth or light leather jackets and coats, light leather pants, heavy skirts, shoes, soft boots, some chaps. Heavy: Heavy leather jackets and coats, hard leather and synthetic boots, heavy belts, most chaps. FIREPROOFING Giving clothing the equivalent of SP20 vs. flame damage adds to the price. For shirts, +100-300%; for pants/skirts, +100-200%; for jackets, +50-100%. GROUNDED ARMOR Most armors are not grounded vs. electrical impulse, this adds 50% to the armor cost, and negates electrical weapons, such as a taser or stun gun. Untreated Ballistic Crabshell Armor reduces damage from electrical attacks by 50%. HELMETS All helmets (unless specifically designed) reduce sight Awareness checks by -1 and hearing Awareness checks by -3. They're also hot and fatiguing; it's inadvisable to wear other head covering under it (such as bandannas or ski masks) for any length of time. If you do, expect Awareness penalties to be doubled (GM's call). SHIELDS Shields protect the arm they are worn on, small shields, like bucklers, don’t protect anything else and are mean only for parrying and blocking. Medium shields, like battle shields, protect the arm and the torso or any part of the body they are held in front of. If the character is crouching they may also provide partial protection to the head and legs depending on the size and shape of the shield. Tower and other large shields, will protect the torso, most of the legs, and the head provided the character keeps his head low. Some tower shields actually have window slits so the character may see what’s in front of him.

ARMOR SP* 4 10

Type of Armor Heavy leather Chain Mail#

Covers Arms, Torso, possibly legs Arms, Torso, possibly legs

Banded Mail#

Arms, Torso, possibly legs

8

Half Plate#

Arms, Torso, possibly legs

12

Full Pate#

Head, Arms, Torso, Legs, Hands, Feet, Arm Arm +1 location *

Hide / Lexan Shield Small Hide or Lexan Shield Medium Hide or Lexan Shield Large Wooden Shield Small Wooden Shield Medium Wooden Shield Medium Steel Shield Small Steel Shield Medium Steel Shield Large Leather Helmet Steel Helmet Kevlar T-Shirt, Vest Kevlar Armor Jacket Helmet Steel or Nylon Flack Vest/Pants Doorgunner's Vest MetalGear™ •

Cost 50.°° 100.°°

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EV** +0 +1 (+2 if arms are covered, +1 for leggings) +0 (+1 if arms are covered, +0 for leggings) +2 (+3 if arms are covered, +2 for leggings) +4

4/10 6/12

+0 +0

10.°°/ 20.°° 15.°°/ 40.°°

Arm +2 locations *

6/15

+1

20.°°/ 80.°°

Arm Arm +1 location * Arm +1 locations * Arm Arm +1 location * Arm +2 location * Head Head Torso, possibly Legs, Arms, Arms, Torso,

8 10 12 15 20 25 4 15 10 14/18/ 20 14 / 20 20 25 25

+0 +1 +2 +1 +2 +3 +0 +1 +0 +1/+2/+3

15.°° 30.°° 50.°° 25.°° 50.°° 100.°° 5.°° 40.°° 100.°° 150.°° / 200.°° / 250.°° 20.°° / 100.°°

Head Torso / Legs Torso Head, Arms, Torso, Legs, Hands, Feet,

+1 / +0 +1 +3 +2

75.°° 100.°° 400.°°

250.°° 600.°°

Stopping Power (SP) refers to the ability of the ability of the armor to stop damage.**AP rounds: treat all Armor as 1/2xSP VEdged weapons treat SP as half t (EV) Encumbrance values should be added together and subtracted from character's total REF stat.

* See Shields. # Considered archaic armor, treated as half against modern firearms.

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PART 7: COMBAT COMBAT RULES Combat is the backbone of any role-playing game, and the main focus of its rules system. This game is no different. THE BASICS Rounds & Turn Order Combat is divided up into rounds, each representing 3.3 seconds. Every round, each player gets to do something. The order of the round is based on an initiative roll of 1D10 plus the players REF stat + the players Initiative Skill, with highest rolls moving first to lowest rolls moving last. Anything that boosts a character’s REF or Initiative is added to this roll where applicable. Initiative is rolled at the start of every combat, determining order of player actions, and lasts until the end of combat. INITIATIVE = ROLL 1D10+REF+INITIATIVE SKILL. HIGH ROLL FIRST. Example: Players A, B and C all have REF stats of 10. A rolls a 5, B rolls an 8, and C rolls a 2. Turn order will be B, A, then C. Optional Initiative Rules (used at GM discretion) Roll Initiative as normal, characters with the lowest score declare their actions first, allowing the characters who rolled highest on initiative to react to the other characters and NPC actions.

Wait For Your Turn You can elect to act later in the round, stepping in at any point to act. If you have elected to wait until another player's turn has come up, you will be able to act after they have taken their turn in the round. Characters may reposition their place in Initiative order by holding action. If they do decide to hold action but do nothing with their turn, they default to last place in Initiative order. Example: Turn order is player A, then B, then C. Player A decides to wait until player C has moved from cover, then take his shot. By waiting, the new turn order will be B, C then A.

ACTIONS During your part of the round, you may perform one of the following actions without penalty: Move up to your full Movement (3x your Movement Allowance In yards) per round. Actions (such as reloading, defending, or Combat Actions) made during the full movement are possible, but incur a –3 penalty. Or move up to 1yard and perform any other action. Reload or change weapons. Mount/dismount from a vehicle or stand from a prone position. Making an additional action (reloading, defending, or Combat Actions) is possible, but it will incur a –3 penalty. Escape a hold or trap or Dodge/Block a melee attack. Everyone gets one free dodge per round, after that any Dodges/Blocks are considered part of the characters Combat Actions. Aim (gaining +1 to hit every round of aiming up to 3 rounds) Perform a non-combat task. Make your maximum allowable number of Combat Actions

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COMBAT ACTIONS To determine a characters number of Combat Actions: A) Add your Initiative skill+Combat Sense+any other Initiative modifiers applicable, the final result is known as the Reaction Total (RT). B) Add your RT to your Applicable Combat Skill (Handgun, Submachine Gun, Rifle, Heavy Weapons, Archery, Martial Arts, and Brawling/Melee) to determine your maximum number of Combat Actions (CA) allowed in a round with that skill. C) There are 3 types of CA’s, Quick, Normal, and Full. To determine the number of actions allowed by each type, consult the following. Quick Combat Actions: (RT+Skill divided by 5) Firing a semiautomatic weapon (Handgun, Submachine Gun, Rifle, Heavy Weapons), a Quick Melee punch, kick or strike, Cast an ultra/extra-light weapon, and Block/Parries, Normal Combat Actions: (RT+Skill divided by 10) Nock/fire an Arrow on a Bow, fire a 3-round burst, fire and re-chamber a Pump, Bolt, Lever, or Single Action weapon, ,Sweeps, Disarms, Escapes, Grapples, Holds, Breaks, Throws, 1 normal Melee Punch, Kick or Strike, Cast a Light Weapon, Fast Draw (-3 to hit), and Dodges, Full Combat Actions: (RT+Skill divided by 15) Single Shot or Fully Automatic Weapons, Choke, Crush, Ram and a Full Melee Punch, Kick or Strike, Cast a medium or larger weapon, and drawing a weapon Example: Jim has an Initiative skill of 3, Combat Sense 3. Jim’s RT=6 (Initiative + Combat Sense) With Rifle he will have: (RT + Rifle Skill) 5+6 = 11 (CA). He has 2 Quick Actions, 1 Normal Action, or 1 Full Action

The player must specify the number of shots or maneuvers to be performed before the first dice (after initiative) is rolled per round. If attacking more than one target regardless of your RT, you lose a Quick Action, this effect is cumulative. In Close Quarters situations, using any weapon with a Conceilability rating of N, you lose a Normal action (2 Quick Actions) every time you change targets. Regardless of RT or Skill level, only a character’s first shot can be a Called Shot per round. This rule also applies to martial arts and melee attacks but only within normal striking range. More than 1 yard of movement limits a character to 1 Martial Art attack per round. (For example if a character has to close distance, or wants to perform a running attack, he only gets the 1 attack). After the first combat action, all following Combat Actions allowed take a cumulative -1. Combat Actions taken beyond those allowed by your RT acquire a -3 cumulative penalty, on top of the penalty already acquired. Maximum number of additional Combat Actions is x2 what is allowed. If the weapons BOD minimum is higher than the characters BODY, divide the number of Combat Actions allowed by Half, (rounding down). Different types of Combat Actions may be performed. A full Combat Action = 1 Normal CA and 1 Quick CA, or 3 Quick CA’s. A Normal CA = 2 Quick CA’s. A character may even use 2 separate skills to perform multiple Combat Actions, however the number of actions are determined by the LOWEST skill being used. (When applying this rule be sure to use discretion, common sense will tell you if what a character is attempting is feasible.)

Two weapon attacks can be made at a -3 penalty on both weapons used. If a character is Ambidextrous (as per the optional Innate Ability rule) he may ignore this penalty.

Ambushes & Backstabs Sometimes, the best way to deal with a very powerful opponent is to get the drop on him from behind; in short, setting an ambush. Ambushes gain a +5 to hit advantage. You may ambush or backstab by announcing your intent to hide or lie in ambush for a target. You can elect to set up an ambush any time: A) The opponent is unaware of your location and your intention to attack. This can be accomplished by setting up a hiding place ahead of time or taking advantage of a melee to get under cover and waiting for a shot. A victim of an ambush must make an Awareness roll greater than your Stealth Skill + INT + 1D10, or you have automatically succeeded.

AMBUSH = +5 TO ATTACK FOR 1 ROUND

DAMAGE Damage in combat is determined by rolling groups of six-sided (D6) or ten-sided (D10) dice. If a rule says, "roll 2D6", for example, you would roll two six sided dice, total the results, and apply the total to the target you were attacking. If the rule said "roll 2D6+1", you would roll as above, then add 1 to the total. So much for creating damage. Let's take a step-by-step look at how to apply it.

An ambush doesn't mean you act first - it just means you have an attack advantage. Initiative for the round is made as usual, and the ambushing character can spring the trap on his part of the round or can wait to see what develops before making his attack. Until the attack is made, his opponent may not attack him, because he doesn't know he's in danger. An ambush may only be used for one attack; another ambush must be set up before the bonus can be employed again.

Hit Location The first step in applying damage is to figure out where to apply it. Most combat attacks are just barely aimed; you're looking for an opening, your opponent slips up, and you take it. This means that unless you attempt to aim your shot at a specific location (and take the -4 penalty for this), you will have to determine where you hit on a random basis. Damage that penetrates armor to the head will always do double damage (unless it is bludgeoning).

Example: Jack sets up an ambush in a dark alley. He rolls his Stealth Skill + lnt + 1D10 for a total of 18. Along come Scarr and Hargan, his mortal enemies. At the start of the combat turn, Initiative is Scarr, Jack and Hargan. As they enter the trap, both Scarr and Hargan make Awareness Rolls. Scarr's roll is 12; Hargan's is 20. "It's a trap'' yells Hargan, but too late; Scarr didn't know what was coming and couldn't declare an attack or defense. Jack pegs him with a shot from his H&K Hellfire, using the +5 Ambush bonus. He won't get the bonus on Hargan, because he made his Awareness roll and spotted him. His 2nd shot misses, and Horgan throws himself down behind a wrecked car and opens up with his 20mm autocannon. Scarr fades away to set another trap.

The Basic and Expanded Location Tables are designed for this; the Basic Location Table lists all general body areas with a value from 1 to 10 written underneath. The Expanded Location Table lists the areas inside that general location with 1-6 spread.

Facing and Line of Sight

EXPANDED LOCATION TABLE 1D6 D6 HEAD TORSO ARM 1 Skull Neckline Shoulder 2 R/L Cheek/ Chest/ Upper Arm Back of Skull Upper Back 3 R/L Eye / Sternum/ Elbow R/L Ear Spine 4 Nose/ Ribs Forearm Back of Skull 5 Mouth Stomach/ Wrist Back of Skull Lower Back 6 Neck Groin Hand

B) The opponent's attention is on another situation, such as another attack or a task requiring great concentration. This can be accomplished by creating a distraction for your opponent, or by sneaking up on him while he is in combat with another combatant.

Facing: is the direction a character is pointing. Since most roleplaying games are played “in head” (without maps), the rule of thumb is that you can clearly face and attack anything that is positioned forward of your shoulders and unblocked. When using a standard gaming hex map, characters “face” through any three adjacent sides of the hex they are standing in. You may move in any direction at any time (one of the big advantages to being a biped). Line of Sight: If your character can see something with the naked eye or the scope of a weapon, you can interact with it. This is called your Line Of Sight. If there’s anything in the way, it’s considered to be BLOCKED and you can’t interact with it.

When your character hits someone, roll 1D10 to determine Basic location and 1d6 to determine Expanded location. For minor combats, or to save time, you can opt to just use the Basic Location Table. BASIC LOCATION CHART 1D10 Location Head Torso R.Arm L.Arm D10 1 2-4 5 6

R.Leg 7-8

L.leg 9-0

LEG Hip Thigh Knee Calf/ Shin Ankle Foot

If you hit a body location that is behind cover, do not re-roll, keep it and hope your weapon does enough damage to penetrate the cover, if not, tough luck. The GM may decide allowances are in order, but only within reason.

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Track each wound separately, on a scratch piece of paper, or on your Character Sheet. The wounds must be treated individually. Tracking each wound separately has the benefit that many small wounds will heal faster than few large ones. For overall damage and effects however, you are required to track your overall damage through your wound tables. This allows you to know instantly where your character stands as far as what state of overall injury he is in and any applied penalties for his Wound State. CRITICAL WOUNDS Any character amassing 10 points in one area will have it rendered useless. 10 points in the head or torso means the character goes into a coma for 1D10 days and must pass a mortal 1 death save every day. CRITICAL WOUNDS 10 points in an arm or leg means it cannot be used until medical attention is sought. Single wounds causing 10 or 11 points of damage to one area cause critical effects as follows: 10 points in the head requires an instant Mortal 4 save and in any case renders the victim into a coma lasting 2D10 days. A mortal 3 death save must be passed every day for the first half of this time. There is a 50% chance of brain damage. This is permanent and reduces INT by D6/2. 10 points in the torso, requires a single mortal 1 save, (death and stun) and needs a save each minute after the wound at one mortal level greater, (i.e. 2 then 3 then 4 then 5 etc...). This continues till the patient is stabilized, healed or dies.... 10 points to any arm or leg will break it, immobilizing it so it cannot be used until it has been re-set, (this means it cannot be used for 1D10 weeks from when it is re-set). Single wounds causing 12 or more points of damage will cause a mortal effect as described below: 12 points to the head, (after doubling), will kill the character outright. They automatically drop to death state 10 as their head is literally blown off!!!! 12 points to the torso, (14 for decentralized heart), will automatically put the victim at death state 1 regardless of wounds, this increases as per normal. This represents major internal organ damage. 12 points to any arm or leg will either mangle it or sever it completely. This means the victim must make a mortal 0 stun and death save, with another save one level more each turn, (i.e. mortal 1, then 2 then 3 etc...). BLUDGEON DAMAGE Bludgeon damage is a tricky thing, because there are so many kinds. Whether using hands, feet, and elbows, or that lead pipe you are generally thought to be doing bludgeon damage. This is usually thought of as simply whacking someone with a large heavy object. But less physically damaging effects are also covered under bludgeon like stings and pinches. It is important to remember that when dealing with this, that any amount of pain, whether it be physically debilitating or not, will effect your decision-making and reactions. Sure there’s no way getting pinched will kill you, but it hurts like hell. Getting whacked with a wire hanger generally won't cause you to fall unconscious, but it stings like mad. Too many GM's and players overlook the effects of pain, thinking that if it doesn't kill the character then it is not worth noticing. For game terms make your players roll a resist torture drugs test, difficulty varying on the amount of pain inflicted. If they fail they

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lose any actions other than Escape attempts for the round and/or are under the attackers influence. Also remember that it is difficult to die from bludgeon damage, and it will generally heal much faster than a penetrating wound. For game purposes any bludgeon wound that does not break a bone, or cause internal bleeding (IE. does more than 10 points of damage with a single attack), will heal at 1 point a minute, although there might be bruising or soreness (GM's discretion). Head damage from bludgeoning is NOT doubled. Bludgeoning damage that does not incur a death save unless an single attack that does more than 10 points (after BTM) of damage is taken. For the purposes of the game, stun rounds such as baton or bean bag rounds inflict bludgeoning damage.

ARMOR Armor is what stops targets from taking the damage you just located. The Armor SP section is directly under the Location section on the Hardcopy. Write the Armor Stopping Power (SP) value for each body area in the space corresponding to that body area. Stopping power (SP) refers to the ability of armor to stop damage. Each type of armor has it's own Stopping Power. When the armor is struck by a round, the armor's SP "is subtracted from the total amount of damage done by the hit. The remaining damage is then applied to the target area. If the damage done is less than the SP of the armor, no damage is done. However, for Soft armor that takes a hit, every D6 increment of damage results in 1 point of Bludgeon damage, Hard armor is 1 point for every 3D6 damage increment (round up). Weapons doing D10 increments of damage follow the same rule, however they double the effect for 2 points of each increment. This is caused by the impact of the round or weapon, which the armor disperses enough that it just causes bruises, and pain, though in extreme cases broken bones, internal damage and head trauma may occur, which can result in death or prolonged impediment, as the rules for critical damage still apply. Layers of armor reduce this damage by half. Example: Jack is wearing a Kevlar jacket with an SP of 18. A 5.56 round (5D6) strikes him in the chest, causing 14 points of damage. The armor's higher SP thwarts the attack. But it hits hard and causes 5 points of bludgeon damage. The next shot does 22 points of damage. The armor reduces this by 18 points, but 4 points get through to cause Jack harm.

Hard and Soft Armors Body armors are divided up by whether or not the majority of their protection is based on rigid metals/ceramics/composites, or on softer, more flexible ballistic fabrics. This is done for layering purposes and for some weapon damage effects. HARD ARMORS Ballistic Crabshell Armor Police Riot Armor Door Gunner's Vest Steel or Nylon Helmet Full Plate Half Plate Wooden or Steel Shield

SOFT ARMORS Heavy Armor jacket Med. Armor jacket Police patrol armor Light Armor jacket Kevlar T-shirt/vest Heavy Leather Chain or Banded Mail

Armor and Bludgeoning Damage Soft armor is treated as having 1/2 its SP value to deal with bludgeoning damage, however as it disperses the impact effectively it also treats any bludgeon damage that gets through as 1/2 real, 1/2 stun. Hard Armor has no penalty to SP.

Layering Armor "What a concept", you think, shrugging into a bulletproof T-shirt, bulletproof vest and a Kevlar armor jacket. Theoretically, one should be able to layer protection upon itself until he becomes invulnerable. Wrong. First of all, let's look at reality. If the average cop could stack layers of armor on himself before tackling a domestic disturbance call, you can bet he'd do it. But doesn't, because it just isn't practical. Here's why. When you layer flack jackets, you aren't invulnerable; you're just immobile. While modern armor isn't as heavy as old-fashioned armor plate, it's very encumbering from the movement angle. Straps, buckles, padding and stiff plastic add up to restrict arm movement, chafe the torso, and weigh down the legs. Pillsbury-doughboy padded arms don't lift guns very well, and well-stuffed legs aren't much for bending, climbing and running. For this reason, every armor type has an encumbrance value (EV). When wearing body armor, add up the total of EV's (listed in the Armor Table), and subtract this from your character's REFLEX stat. Even if you're strong like Hulk, a lot of armor is going to cost you. Maximum Armor In addition to Encumberance Values, only a maximum of 3 layers of Armor can be worn at any one time; no more than one of these layers can be Hard Armor (see Hard/Soft Armors Table). The 2nd layer has an extra EV penalty of -1; the 3rd layer, an additional penalty of -2. Anything that changes your natural armor but does not provide an EV penalty, such as the cybernetic options Light Skinweave, and light Subdermal Armor, do not count as a layer. Anything that does provide an EV penalty, such as the cybernetic options Body Plating, and heavier Skinweave or Subdermal Armor do count as a layer. Proportional Armor When layering armor, or wearing armor behind an obstacle or cover, subtract the smaller SP from the larger one. Find the difference on the table below and read across to the other column. This is the bonus number you add to the larger SP to determine overall protection from the armor/armor, or armor/cover combination. If you have three or more layers of protection, calculate in pairs from the inside out (example: For armors A, B, C, you compare A and B; determine the bonus number, and then compare the new strength of the larger of the pair to armor C.) PROPORTIONAL ARMOR TABLE Difference in SPs Bonus Number 0-4 +5 5-8 +4 9-14 +3 15-20 +2 21-26 +1 27+ +0 Armor Piercing Rounds There's another reason why armor isn't the universal cure for flying lead, and it's called Armor Piercing (AP) rounds. These are bullets designed to deliver their full impact to a single point, instead of mushrooming out like a normal bullet. They don't cause as much damage as a standard lead or hollow point round (1/2 normal damage), but they cut through armor like a hot knife through

cheese. As a result, whenever AP rounds are encountered, armor will have one half its total SP value. For example, say a 5.56 AP round does 30 points of damage. It hits SP 10 armor, which reduces it by 5 (10/2=5) The remaining 25 points ore further reduced to 12 (25/2= 12.5, rounded down to 12), based on an AP round's lower damage capacity. The same is true of knives, swords, arrows, and other edged weapons. Soft Armors are at half SP effectiveness against edged weapons. Hard Armors retain full value. The smart solution in a combat situation is to rely on the lightest armor you think you can get away with unless you're planning to take on a stationary position or go up against very heavy firepower. Staged Penetration Armor doesn't just keep absorbing damage indefinitely. Every time the armor is hit by an attack that exceeds half it’s SP rating, it is reduced by one point of SP. Each time the armor is struck by a penetrating attack (i.e. an attack that actually exceeds the armor's SP), it's SP is reduced by an additional 1 point for every 4 points of penetration (before halving for Armor Piercing and the like). When the SP reaches 0, the armor will no longer stop damage. Use Cover You don't have to lug around an armor jacket with you - often the best armor is what you can find around you. Cover allows you to move from place to place, letting something else soak up the gunfire. COMMON COVER SP/SDP Office/Sheetrock Wall 5/15-sq yard Concrete Block Wall 10/30-sq yard Reinforced Wall 20/60-sq yard Brick Wall 25/75-sq yard Stone Wall 30/90-sq yard Reinforced Wall 40/120-sq yard External Wall 50-150-sq yard Floor / Ceiling 25/75-sq yard Heavily Reinforced Floor 100/300-sq yard Office/Wood Door 5/15 Heavy Wood Door 15/45 Concealed Security Door 15/45 Steel/Security Door 25/60 Reinforced Steel Door 50/150 Plexiglas Windows 12/15-sq yard Bulletproof Glass 15/45-sq yard External Windows 25/75-sq yard Car Body, Door 5/20 Data Term 25/75 Mailbox 10/55 Curb 25/25 Armored Fridge 90/30 Weapon Emplacement 30/90 Tree, Phone Pole 90/50 Concrete Utility Pole 85/85 Engine Block 55/40 Hydrant 35/65 Armored Car Body 25/80 AV-4 Body 40/60 Jersey Barrier 120/120

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MAKING ATTACKS This section covers the basics of how to make attacks. There are two parts to this section: RANGED WEAPON COMBAT and MELEE COMBAT.

RANGED WEAPON COMBAT Ranged Weapons Ranged weapons are anything that is shot or thrown over a distance at the target. To make a ranged weapon attack (guns, bows, thrown objects, etc.) you must roll a combination of your: REF STAT + WEAPON SKILL + 1D10 equal to or greater than a specific hit number. The range between you and your target determines the hit number. RANGE DEFINITIONS Point Blank: The weapon is very close to or in physical contact with the target. It will almost always hit, doing maximum damage. Close: The weapon is attacking at ¼ th the listed range. Medium: The weapon is attacking at ½ listed range for its type. Long: The weapon is attacking at listed range for its type. Extreme: The weapon is attacking at x2 listed range for its type.

BASIC WEAPON RANGES Handguns 50yards Submachineguns 50yards Shotguns 25yards Assault/Battle Rifles 250yards Sniper/Hunting Rifles 500yards Throwing (-10m/kg>1) 3y x BOD ADVANCED RANGES Pocket Handgun 10yards Subcompact Handgun 20yards Compact Handgun 30yards Full Frame Handgun 40 yards Long-barrel Handgun 50 yards Sawn Off Shotgun 20 yards Tactical Shotgun 30 yards Full Frame Shotgun 40 yards Short SMG 30 yards Full Frame SMG 50 yards Long Barrel SMG 60 yards Short Barrel Rifle 100 yards Full Frame Rifle/LMG 250 yards Long Barrel Rifle/MG 500 yards Grenade Launcher 250 yards Rocket Launcher 100 yards

AIMING One way to improve your chance to hit is to aim. Each round of aiming adds +1 to your Attack, up to three rounds. Aiming assumes steady position, no movement, and a clear chance to track your target.

MODIFIERS When making your roll, you must add any and all modifiers that apply to the combat situation to your final Attack Roll. There are modifiers for Target, Aiming, Weapon Type, Type of Firing, Position and Movement. Be sure to take into account all modifiers and stack them appropriately. RANGED COMBAT TO-HIT NUMBERS Point Blank (Touching to 1 yard).. ...………………………..... 10 Close (1/4 Long range) ..............……………………………..... 15 Medium (1/2 Long range) .......…………………………...….... 20 Long (Full range)..............……………………………..…... … 25 Extreme (2x Long range) ........…..…………………………..... 30 LINE OF SIGHT AND COVER MODIFIERS Target silhouetted ............................. +2 Target crouched/kneeling .....…........ -1 Target prone ....................................... -2 Half body visible ................................ -2 Head and shoulders only visible ....... -3 Blinded ……………….. ..................... -5 Head only ............................................ -4 Behind someone else .......................... -4

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RANGED COMBAT TO-HIT MODIFIERS Extra actions .............…………………………..... -3/extra action Using off hand ...............…………………………...................... -3 Using two weapons ..........…………………………..... -3 on both Firing while running .................…………………………......... -3 Firing a shoulder arm from hip ..…………………………...... -2 Fast draw/Snapshot ....................…………………………........ -3 Ambush/Surprise attack ..........…………………………......... +5 Silencer/Suppressor ..................………………………….......... -1 Aimed shot at vitals ..........………………………….................. -6 Aimed shot at head, hands, feet …….……………………........ -4 Aimed shot at stomach .............……………………………...... -3 Aimed shot at arms, thighs ......………………………….......... -2 Aimed shot at chest ...................………………………….......... -1 Bipod (stationary & braced) …………………………...... +1 to 2 Gyro-Mount ...………......…………………………................... -1 Turning to face target .................... ………………………….... -2 Ricochet or indirect fire ........… …………………………........ -5 Loser of Facedown ..........…......... …………………………...... -3 Target immobile ................…………………………................. +4 Moving target..... -1 (additional -1 per 2 points of MA above 5) Tiny target (bullseye, eye, vital area) ……………………….... -6 Small target (body location,